Archive May 17, 2025

BBC Escape to the Country presenter Alistair Appleton has been a mainstay on the show since 2007 and has a successful career as a psychotherapist away from the cameras

Escape to the Country presenter thrilled fans by sharing rare snaps of his husband. The telly host, who has been a fixture on the show since 2007, is adored by viewers and shares presenting duties with the likes of Ginny Buckley and Nicki Chapman as they juggle tough challenges in finding people their dream retreat.

Born and bred in Hampshire, Alistair, now 55, graduated from the University of Cambridge with a 2:1 in English Literature. After university, he moved to Poland to teach at the University of Gdansk before relocating to Germany where he launched his broadcasting career with Deutsche Welle as a translator and journalist.

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As his television career blossomed on Escape To The Country, Alistair earned an MA in Advanced Psychotherapy at the Minster Centre in London in 2014. In a chat with Hampshire Life magazine in 2012, he confessed: “I loved that work so much that I started to get a bit disenchanted with all the crazy schedules of TV filming and I decided five years ago to re-train as a psychotherapist.”

He was effusive about his life decisions, stating: “That was the best decision of my life and I think I’ve hit my 40s in much better shape than I hit my 30s,” according to MyLondon.

Alistair has found his idyllic retreat in a cosy Sussex cottage, where he now resides with his husband Daniel Martin, who is earning acclaim as a potter. On social media, Alistair couldn’t hide his pride for Daniel’s work, gushing over his “beautiful husband” and celebrating Daniel’s participation in his first pottery fair.

He shared a snapshot of his partner’s success with followers: “So proud of my beautiful husband.@thepilgrimpotter This weekend is his first pottery fair. At the prestigious @townergallery no less. this weekend! After a mad rush with lots of explosions and triumphs – he’s here! ! And it looks stunning. #townergallery.”

Fans were quick to respond with one saying: “Wow, Daniel, just WOW, beautiful !!!” with another commenting: “The lamp bases are amazing and if I were near that location, those babies would be going home with me!!” A third added: “It all looks amazing and he looks so proud too! love it all!”

Embracing a serene lifestyle, the couple offers free yoga and meditation sessions online – an initiative that Alistair mentions on his personal website as their way of contributing positivity during these challenging times, with an open invitation to everyone interested: “My husband Daniel, a yoga teacher, and I are offering free meditation and yoga to keep us grounded and happy during these extraordinary times. All welcome.”

In a heartfelt reveal, Alistair shared his joy and appreciation for having found love with Daniel, describing their life together in a 1930s French sea captain’s cottage in Newhaven shared with their large dog, Ben: “I am lucky to have found love and have a very understanding and supportive husband, Daniel… We’re currently in a 1930s French sea captain’s cottage in the port of Newhaven. And we live there with our very big dog Ben.”

A celebrated career in television and his expertise as a psychotherapist contribute to Alistair’s impressive net worth – speculations point to a fortune between £2-3 million. Despite professional fulfilment, Alistair once confessed to enduring darker times, particularly in his early 30s, saying he was: “pretty unhappy”.

While maintaining a public persona, Alistair has also been candid about personal trials, including substance abuse and nightlife excesses, which he discusses on his blog, mind-springs.org: “I was drinking a lot, doing a lot of drugs, going out a lot.”

Alistair revealed his struggles in a 2019 blog post, stating: “I realised how fossilised and dead-souled I’d become in my 20s”.

In a separate post, he reflected on his earlier ambitions, saying: “You know, in my 20s all I wanted to be was a famous TV presenter, and by the time I turned 30 I was already seeing that was a very dangerous path for me because I knew that it would just mean more anxiety, more laying value on external looks.”

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As fans binge-watch the final season of dystopian series The Handmaids Tale, lead actor Elisabeth Moss opens up on what the role means to her – and playing her now as a mum, herself

Fans, rejoice! The sixth and final series of powerful drama The Handmaid’s Tale is back on our screens. It’s based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood about a futuristic dystopia where a patriarchal regime, the Republic of Gilead, has supplanted the US government. Following an explosive series five finale, in which June (Elisabeth Moss) reunited with fellow refugee Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and escaped out west, we’re set to follow June as she teams up with the Handmaids and tries to bring about a revolution.

Here, Elisabeth, 42, who plays the lead character and narrator, Offred/June, opens up about the huge impact the show has had on her. She also tells us about becoming a mother for the first time after welcoming a baby in 2024 with her partner, whose identity she has not revealed, confessing that she was “so fortunate” to be have her newborn on set with her while filming the final series in Vancouver.

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Hi, Elisabeth. The final series of The Handmaid’s Tale is here – what’s it been like saying goodbye?

I love this story. I love playing this character. I still can’t believe that they let me direct the show. I’m so honoured. I still have moments standing on set where I cannot believe that I get to do that job and I get to work with these actors. It’s truly such a privilege.

Also, congratulations on becoming a mum! Has that changed your connection with June?

I think I’ve done a pretty good job playing a mom without being a mom. But I will say that being a mom, it’s different. It definitely did have an effect. It’s impossible not to think about the real child and to draw those parallels in a very emotional way – plus, I was really tired [laughs]. So it definitely was a more emotional and visceral experience.

What can we expect from this season? Is there a revolution coming?

I can’t tell you what to expect. We promised a revolution and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that revolution is here. I really feel like it’s from our heart, our finale. So I hope that people think that.

We’ve seen videos of you all dancing between takes. It seems fun, despite the heavy subject matter…

Being a director on the show is like being a kindergarten teacher or a mum. It’s like herding kittens, just trying to get the actors and crew to be serious for two to two-and-a-half minutes – because it’s a serious scene. And I love that, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s so much fun working on our show.

Since 2017, The Handmaid’s Tale has had 15 Emmy wins, what’s made it such a career highlight for you?

On a personal level, this show has changed my life and my career. I’ve been doing this [acting] for 30-something years. I’ve stopped counting [laughs]. And I love acting so much, it’s my first love. But after doing it for so long, you do need to grow as an artist and I got to start producing on the show, then start directing. And so, to be able to explore what I do in those two new ways was incredibly fulfilling.

What are you most proud of about being part of the show?

I think, if it in any way, at any time, offers anyone any inspiration, any hope, any idea of a better future for themselves, and their loved ones. If it in any way gives anyone a reason to get up in the morning or a reason to keep fighting for what they believe in, then I think that is something that I will forever, for the rest of my life, be beyond proud of.

Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale back in 1985, but its themes still resonate today. You see the Handmaids’ red gowns and white caps at protests in America…

I’ve never said this before, but I was doing another show and I was offered a silly social thing for social media, and given a fake red cloak to wear for it. And I said, ‘No’ – not because I’m afraid of embarrassing myself. But because I really value that costume. I consider it sort of sacred. It stands for something. I think it’s fun for people to dress up their dogs. Super into that. Any pet costume is totally approved. But this, I take it seriously when I wear it. And that’s the best way of me saying what it means to me.

You’ve said June’s motherhood is central to this season. Is that right?

This season is about choice – each of these characters has to choose whether they’re going to go towards the darkness or towards the light. It’s surprising, I think, which characters choose what. And it’s complicated as to why they choose what they choose. The choices we all make in the show, even the characters that are more flawed, are complicated and are for reasons that are interesting to explore. But I hope that at the end – it’s so hard to talk about without spoiling anything – it is about, ‘rise up’.

Is the message about not staying quiet when something is wrong?

Yes, it is important to speak out. It is important to not rest. It is important to fight for what you believe in and never, ever take it for granted. And it’s important to tell that story, and to tell that story for the next generation. We don’t end in a place of despair. We don’t get everything we want, but we have to hope. And we have to keep fighting, writing and telling our stories. I’m going to get off my soapbox now [laughs]. But that’s what it’s about to me. It’s very personal, I think, to all of us. It’s personal. We’ve all ended shows before that we had personal feelings about. But this is different.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle settled into their Montecito home in June 2020, after a stint at Tyler Perry’s residence, who is also Princess Lilibet’s godfather.

Before this, the couple had enjoyed a six-month stay on Vancouver Island in Canada, following a family holiday post their inaugural South African tour with Prince Archie in Autumn 2019. But despite the picturesque setting, the Sussexes’ neighbour shared his experience of being cold-shouldered when he attempted to introduce himself.

Back in 2023, then-88 year old Navy veteran Frank McGinity, who lives next door to Harry and Meghan’s 15-bedroom Tuscan-style villa, tried to welcome the couple by offering them a collection of films about the local history.

He described his interaction with the couple’s security detail in an updated chapter of his memoir Get Off Your Street, which also covers the community’s ordeal with destructive mudslides prior to the royals’ arrival, reports OK!.

McGinity expressed astonishment at Meghan and Harry’s choice of residence, as the Riven Rock Estate they now call home typically appeals to an older demographic.

Recounting his attempt to connect with the Sussexes, he said: “I have a big house next to Harry and Meghan’s property – [they] live on old McCormick property and I went up to their gate with the films on a CD, but they weren’t interested.

“The gate guy turned me away and wouldn’t take the film, just saying ‘they’re not interested’. I was trying to be neighbourly. If they were interested in the neighbourhood I’ve got a lot of information.”

The veteran told the Montecito Journal: “We don’t see them very much around here. It’s surprising they came here. People are typically older. It’s where the elephants come to die.”

In his book, McGinity recounted the impact of the mudslides on the small enclave that sits halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

He said his own home was heavily damaged in the devastating natural disaster that left 23 people across Southern California dead. Harry and Meghan’s current home was left looking like a “sea of mud or a moonscape”.

McGinity wrote: “We live in Riven Rock, a neighbourhood of 34 homes surrounded by a thick stone wall surrounding 87 acres. This is where Stanley McCormick lived for 40 years..

“But half of this beautiful estate, which Stanley created, turned to a sea of mud on January 9th, 2018. Four homes were completely destroyed. Our home took a big hit.

“The mud entered the rear of the house and disseminated our office, entry hall, and back bedroom. There were boulders so large in the rooms, our contractor had to chisel them apart in order to remove them.

“I found a TV from the office and a mattress near our front gate – 500 feet away. Can you imagine the fury of that mudslide?”

Celine Dion was spotted jetting to Basel ahead of the Eurovision 2025 final on Saturday night, but it is still uncertain if she will be able to perform at the event

Celine Dion has jetted off to Basel ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, yet it remains uncertain whether she will grace the event with her presence. The music icon’s private plane departed from Paris for Switzerland yesterday morning, marking 37 years since her victorious performance for the country with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.

However, it is reported that discussions are still underway and her potential appearance hangs in the balance due to her health concerns.

The 57 year old singer, who won Eurovision in Dublin in 1988, has faced difficulties with her singing abilities since disclosing her battle with Stiff Person Syndrome in December 2022, although she did manage a rare performance at the Paris Olympics last summer.

A source close to Eurovision revealed to The Sun: “The team have been talking to Celine about appearing or performing at the ceremony for months and it has been very up and down.”

“At one point this week, it looked like she would not be attending, but now it is looking far more likely she will be there. Rehearsals have gone ahead without her, but everyone is crossing their fingers. It’ll be down to the wire.”

Despite being in Las Vegas, Celine sent a video message to Eurovision which was aired during Tuesday’s semi-final, hinting that she might not make it to the event. Celine said in the short video: “Dear Eurovision family and contestants, I’d love nothing more than to be with you in Basel right now. Switzerland will forever hold a special place in my heart. It’s a country that believed in me and gave me the chance to be part of something so extraordinary.

“Winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 1988 was a life-changing moment for me, and I’m so thankful for everyone who supported me. Now, 37 years later, it’s so beautiful and emotional to see Switzerland winning and hosting this incredible event once again. To the people of Switzerland, thank you for your love. This night is yours, and I hope you feel as proud as I do.”

Celine’s video message left fans emotional, while others were left questioning if she will in fact appear in the grand final tonight.

Celine was representing Switzerland when she won more than 30 years ago. That marked the last time that the country, which has won three times overall, topped the leaderboard prior to Nemo’s victory with the Code last year.

She’s enjoyed a successful career since competing in the contest but has taken a step back from performing since announcing in 2022 that she’d been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome (SPS) in 2022.

It’s described as a rare neurological disorder, with symptoms said to include muscle stiffness and spasms. She however made a ‘comeback’ at the Olympics in Paris last year, where she performed on top of the Eiffel Tower.