Archive May 10, 2025

EXCLUSIVE: The intergalactic-inspired singer is set to return to the Britain’s Got Talent stage for the ITV show’s third live semi-final this evening

Mickey Callisto is set to dazzle once again as he returns to the Britain’s Got Talent stage tonight for the third live semi-final – and he’s promising nothing short of a “passion-packed, flamboyant” performance that’ll light up Saturday night TV.

The intergalactic-inspired singer, whose Freddie Mercury tribute wowed judges and viewers earlier in the series, is aiming to book his place in the grand final and edge closer to the life-changing £250,000 prize and a coveted spot at the Royal Variety Performance.

“Like always I am very excited just to be able to perform again for the nation!” Mickey tells us exclusively. “The stage is where I am happiest and to entertain people is the only thing I was born to do.”

With eight acts competing tonight – including Electric Umbrella, Bao, Jasmine Rice and gymnast Albert Amores – the stakes couldn’t be higher. Only two acts will make it through to the final, either via the public vote or a Golden Buzzer from the judges.

Mickey, who says his performance will be full of “passion, flare, flamboyance but most of all fun,” is fully aware of the expectations, especially performing in front of Bruno Tonioli – who once counted Queen frontman Freddie Mercury as a friend.

“To perform for Bruno who actually knew Freddie is a great thing in itself. There is always pressure but I would like to think I was doing the Queen fans proud too and of course my fans,” he says. He adds, “I hope Freddie would have loved it. He taught me to sing with passion and make people feel involved in the performance. I think he would have liked Simon for his honesty and also sense of humour.”

His show-stopping audition not only earned him a standing ovation but also helped bring Queen back into the UK charts – something Mickey describes as “like scoring a goal for your favourite football team.”

“Not many things make me shed a tear but I certainly did seeing that,” he said. “To think I have contributed to their already phenomenal legacy… It was a very proud moment.”

Off-stage, Mickey is a self-described space fanatic and football lover who writes and produces all of his own music. His alter ego was born out of a fascination with astronomy. “Callisto is one of the 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter,” he explains. “My star sign is Sagittarius which rules Jupiter in astrology – hence Mickey Callisto.”

Fans can expect another glam look this evening – and yes, he’s ready to compete with Amanda Holden in the style stakes. “Of course it will be a glam outfit,” he laughs. “You’ll definitely have the passion of Freddie but you will be getting the full Mickey experience.”

The Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals continue tonight on ITV1, with guest appearances from musical Just For One Day and last year’s winner Sydnie Christmas — who Mickey says is “a great personality as well as being an amazing singer.”

Could Mickey be next in line for the BGT crown? He’s dreaming big: “One is perform at Wembley Stadium and also the Stadium of Light… Whether I sing Queen or my own songs, I receive the same response.”

Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith has been married to John Playfair since 2016, following the death of her first husband Rayne Kruger

Dame Prue Leith, the culinary legend from Great British Bake Off, has shared her husband’s fears of adopting a new dog that might outlive him. The restaurateur and baking sensation has become a familiar face on our screens through her various TV stints.

The 85-year-old is perhaps best known for her stint as a judge on Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off, where she joins Paul Hollywood at the judging table. In her personal life, Dame Prue is married to John Playfair, whom she met at a dinner party in Yorkshire, following the death of her first husband Rayne Kruger.

The couple tied the knot in 2016, and while they share a loving home with their two Cavalier King Charles spaniels, they’re in discussions about whether or not they should add another furry friend to the mix.

John voiced his concern that any new pet might outlive him, but Dame Prue has been having none of it, reportedly dismissing his apprehension with a firm: “What nonsense”, when she spoke to the Times.

In addition to this, the expert baker has been frank about her own age, expressing on the Travel Diaries podcast: “I haven’t got much longer, I’m 85, I want to spend as much time as I can with him.”

The Bake Off judge has also discussed the dynamics of her relationship, praising her husband’s down-to-earth nature.

She said: “One of the wonderful things about him is that he is totally without ego, he doesn’t feel threatened by the fact that I have a higher profile than he does, when I introduce him (to people) he always just says, ‘I’m the handbag carrier, I’m her chauffeur’.”

Her journey in the culinary world began at the age of just 20 when she trained at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School. This led to an impressive career that includes launching her own restaurant.

Dame Prue later joined The Great British Bake Off in 2017, when she replaced Dame Mary Berry. Eight years on, and she’s started to talk about life after the popular baking programme.

Speaking to the Mail On Sunday earlier this year, she admitted that she would take part in the 2025 edition, but didn’t know if she would be around in future seasons.

She explained: “I’m doing this year’s Bake Off, and I don’t know if this will be my last. I’ve got to stop some time, so I might stop next year. I thought I’d just see how I go this year, because I definitely feel a bit older this year than I did last year.

“Things like getting out of a chair takes me longer than it used to. I don’t like big steps without a handrail. None of these things worried me two years ago – I could run upstairs – and so I’m very keen to leave Bake Off before I’m asked to leave.”

Dame Prue has also graced screens on some of the nation’s most cherished shows, including The Great British Menu and Prue’s Cotswold Kitchen.

EXCLUSIVE: The singer, 27, is coming out fighting with his new music – and he’s not shying away from the hard topics to climb the charts either

Yungblud is coming out fighting with his new music. He’s confronted his demons, taken up boxing and is battling against toxic masculinity. And what he delivers with album Idols really packs a punch.

“I really had to face myself… figure it out and face it,” he tells. And Yungblud, 27, reckons he has really grown in the process. “I would use food and alcohol to distract myself and push things down,” he says.

“The album is a mirror to that. I have singing lessons. I don’t drink as much and I’ve been getting better at sleeping. I’ve been getting better at being able to navigate this whole thing better – that’s been epic.”

Idols is Yungblud’s fourth studio release, the first coming out in 2018. He filmed the music video for single Hello Heaven shirtless during a -14C blizzard in Bulgaria – and is enjoying flashing the flesh.

Having previously opened up about his battle with body dysmorphia, the Doncaster rocker – real name Dominic Harrison – tells how he has now “cut out people that were not good” for him, and that posing topless for his album promo is a “kickback against those people”.

Yungblud is not shying away from hard topics to climb the charts either. He says: “Me and my friends were talking about sexuality. It was what young people were talking about but it wasn’t being represented in music at all. It was kind of like, ‘Oh, don’t sing about that. It’s too political to go on Radio One.’

“I was like, ‘This is what people want to hear, this is what I want to say, this is what I want to sing about’.” After his last album, Yungblud opened up about the fear of being predictable – but that is one thing you can’t accuse him of with this record.

“People knew exactly what I would sing, wear and say,” he says. “I was repeating myself and I was starting to not tell the truth.

“The past two years has been a real reset for me to provide a new outlet and a new journey. I feel calmer than I’ve ever felt because it’s truly written. If it’s not real, people can smell it”.

Describing the creative process, he said: “It’s like crying or having an orgasm… it just comes out of you without f***ing responsibility or consequence”. And Yungblud, who recently took up boxing with a trainer in LA, wants to be a positive role model for other men.

Previously addressing the issue on Jamie Laing’s podcast Great Company, and referencing hit Netflix series Adolescence, he says: “What I see are these psychos like Andrew Tate and this toxically poisonous stuff that young men are consuming.

“I really feel like there needs to be people who embrace masculinity and embrace this element of physical activity, but also do it like me – from a place of law, respect and equality.

“I want to portray that it’s cool to embrace masculinity in a new way that highlights emotions but respects that there isn’t just this kind of old school idea that’s being peddled.”

Idols is out on June 20 and Yungblud’s world tour starts in LA on August 23. Bludfest in Milton Keynes on June 21 is his only UK date this year.

Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married from 1990 until 2001 – and while “irreconcilable differences” were cited as the reason for the divorce, the pair still have good things to say about each other

Hollywood legend Tom Cruise has showered his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman, with praise – hailing her abilities as an actress. The 62-year-old action star was married to 57-year-old Australian actress Nicole from 1990 until 2001 and shares two children with the Oscar winner.

The couple met on the set of the Tony Scott directed sports drama Days of Thunder which was released in 1990 and they later appeared in the romantic drama Far and Away in 1992. The duo also stunned film fans when they appeared in the erotically charged drama Eyes Wide Shut in 1999.

The pair announced their separation in February 2001, with Tom citing “irreconcilable differences” when he filed for divorce two days later. While some Hollywood divorces have been filled with drama, the split between Tom and Nicole was regarded as amicable.

And it seems the pair still hold each other in high regard all these years later. In an interview with Sight and Sound magazine, the Mission: Impossible star reflected on working with iconic director Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut – and revealed he petitioned for Nicole to be cast in her role as Alice Harford due to her exceptional acting abilities.

He explained: “I flew out to [Kubrick’s] house and I landed in his backyard. I read the script the day before and we spent the day talking about it. I knew all of his films.

“Then it was basically he and I getting to know each other. And when we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the role [of Alice]. Because obviously she’s a great actress.”

Eyes Wide Shut famously demanded more from its cast than they expected. Filming was initially tipped to last three or four months – but ended up taking 15 months due to Kubrick being a perfectionist.

Casting his mind back on the film, Tom said: “I thought the film was very interesting, and I wanted to have that experience. When I go to make a movie, I do a lot of detailed investigation and a lot of time with the people before I commit so that I understand what they need and want and they understand me and how we can work together and really create something very special.”

The film arguably helped put Nicole on the map as a serious actress as she was nominated for a string of Best Actress awards following the film’s release – including the prestigious Satellite Awards.

She went on to receive her first Best Actress nomination at the Oscars in 2002 for the 2001 film Moulin Rouge! – and later won the top gong at the 2003 ceremony for her role in The Hours. Nicole has also been nominated for the Best Actress award for Rabbit Hole in 2011 and Being the Ricardos in 2022.

She has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award once – for playing Sue Brierley in the 2016 Australian biographical drama Lion, which was directed by Garth Davis and with the cast led by British star Dev Patel.

Tom has been Oscar nominated four times over the course of his career – three times for Best Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor, but he has not scooped any of the coveted golden statuettes so far.

Next year, Nicole will be reprising one of her most beloved roles, returning as charming witch Gillian Owens in Practical Magic 2 – alongside Sandra Bullock who returns as on-screen sister Sally Owens. And this year, Tom is set to play Ethan Hunt yet again in the latest Mission: Impossible film, titled The Final Reckoning.