ITVBe’s The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Goodger has teased a return to the reality show with a trip overseas for the first time since the tragic death of her second daughter
Former TOWIE star Lauren Goodger is set to jet off on her first holiday abroad in five years
Lauren Goodger has confirmed she will be travelling abroad for the first time in five years soon as she joins the cast of The Only Way is Essex on a filming trip to Portugal. The 37-year-old reality star, who rose to fame on the 2010 series of the ITVBe show, shared the news about this personal milestone on Instagram.
Goodger posted a glam selfie to her story, gushing: “I am going on my first TOWIE away trip to Portugal very soon!! My first TOWIE trip in 10 years – I’m so excited! This is a huge deal for me but this is the perfect timing.
Former TOWIE star Lauren Goodger is set to jet off on her first holiday abroad in five years(Image: laurengoodger/Instagram)
“I’ve not been away on holiday abroad in five years, due to my severe trauma and anxiety. However, the TOWIE bosses are who I feel most comfortable with to be going abroad to help with this.”
The reality star was last spotted abroad in 2019, when she was photographed on holiday in Marbella. Her decision to join the cast overseas has come after a difficult few years that were marked by personal traumas such as the tragic loss of her second daughter, a serious accident, and ongoing mental health struggles.
In July 2022 Goodger’s second child tragically died two days after being born. Lauren has spoken publicly about the profound impact Lorena’s death had on her, describing herself as a “grieving mother” and regularly sharing how the experience has affected her mental health.
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The TV personality currently shares her three-year-old daughter Larose with ex-partner Charles Drury. In May last year she was left in a state of panic when the girl came down with a virus, leaving Lauren unable to sleep for three nights out of fear that she would lose Larose, too.
The reality star admitted she has not travelled for a long time because of her ‘severe trauma’(Image: laurengoodger/Instagram)
She described the incident as “three days and three nights of hell”, telling followers: “I am full of anxiety when my baby is not well. In constant fear of the worst.”
In May 2024, Goodger also revealed she had been involved in an accident where she tripped and fell in the middle of a busy road. The incident left her with multiple injuries and made her decide to take a break from social media.
“Today I had a horrible accident. Got seven wounds on my body,” she wrote at the time in a concerning Instagram post. “Luckily the cars stopped and I sat in the road while strangers came to help me.”
The former TOWIE star later said that the fall happened during a week when she was very emotionally distressed after being triggered by several personal issues and ongoing anxiety. She described her mental state at the time as “running on empty” and said she was struggling to sleep through the night and felt emotionally exhausted.
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Thankfully Goodger seems to be healing from these painful experiences now, and has spoken about using exercise and therapy to help her recover from the trauma of losing her daughter.
Sir David Attenborough, who recently reflected on his life in a new documentary about the ocean, is celebrating his 99th birthday
David Attenborough health and ‘end is near’ fears as he celebrates 99th birthday
British icon Sir David Attenborough is celebrating his 99th birthday on Thursday after sharing a message on reaching “the end of his life” while discussing what he thinks will save the planet. The historian and broadcaster appeared in a new documentary called Ocean: With David Attenborough, where he reflected on his life.
While talking about his sadness over the state of the world’s ecosystems, he said the key to saving the world “is not on land, but at sea”. He said: “When I first saw the sea as a young boy, it was thought of as a vast wilderness to be tamed and mastered for the benefit of humanity. Now, as I approach the end of my life, we know the opposite is true.”
Sir David said the planet is “in such poor health” but added he “would find it hard not to lose hope” if it weren’t for the ocean. He continued: “If we save the sea, we save our world. After a lifetime of filming our planet, I’m sure nothing is more important.”
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Sir David reflected on his age in the new documentary(Image: Conor McDonnell)
As the legend celebrates his 99th birthday all while finding ways to save the planet, we take a look at his health woes over the years.
Sir David has been part of our screens for decades and enjoyed a fairly healthy life. However he previously admitted he has concerns about one worrying illness.
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The star had a pacemaker fitted in the summer of 2013 and also had both knees replaced in 2015, and revealed that he’s had to make changes to his lifestyle to keep healthy.
In 2017, the documentary maker revealed: “I have certainly changed my diet. Not in a great sort of dramatic way. But I don’t think I’ve eaten red meat for months.
“I do eat cheese, I have to say, and I eat fish. But by and large, I’ve become much more vegetarian over the past few years than I thought I would ever be.”
He started presenting television shows in 1954(Image: Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
His change in diet could be key to helping him stay healthy fo longer as studies show plant-based diets help extend life by staving off chronic diseases, while eating too much processed meat and red meat may increase your risk of bowel (colorectal) cancer, according to the NHS.
Some meats are high in saturated fat, which can raise blood cholesterol levels and your risk of coronary heart disease. Despite making a huge change in his diet and having a pacemaker fitted, he still had several concerns about his health.
The star previously opened up about his worried on being hit by a mind-changing condition such as Alzheimer’s. Four years ago, TV presenter Anderson Cooper asked: “What are you most fearful of at this moment?”
Sir David answered: “Becoming helpless and gaga.” In 2017, Sir David admitted he became concerned when he couldn’t remember a word for something while travelling through the Jura Mountains in Switzerland.
“There were these searing yellow fields, and I can’t think of the damn name,” he said. “I wanted to say something about it, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t until we got quite close to Geneva that I thought, of course, oil seed rape [i.e. rapeseed oil].”
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During the same chat, he said he was “coming to terms” with the idea his mind could fail him as he ages.
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Cardinals are in the Sistine Chapel for the second day of the conclave to elect a new pope, following two votes so far that have ended with black smoke – a signal that no new pope has been elected.
Thursday’s voting has been highly anticipated, as the previous two popes were both announced on the second day of the conclave.
Here is what we know about what the cardinals do all day:
How many cardinals have gathered in the Vatican?
Out of 252 cardinals, only those less than the age of 80 are eligible to participate in the papal conclave.
Currently, 135 cardinals meet this criterion. However, two have chosen not to travel to Rome, citing health issues, and bringing the number of confirmed voting participants to 133.
A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope; that’s 89 votes out of the 133 eligible cardinals. If no candidate reaches that threshold, another vote is held. After each round, ballots are burned.
If black smoke appears from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, it means no pope has been chosen. White smoke signals the Catholic Church has a new pontiff.
“In the past, fresh straw was used to produce white smoke, and water was added to produce black smoke,” Father Francis Lucas, a Catholic priest and executive director of the Catholic Media Network, told Al Jazeera.
“However, this sometimes resulted in grey smoke, which led to confusion. Now, chemicals are added to ensure the smoke is distinctly black or white,” he added.
What’s the voting process in the papal conclave?
Voting after the first day occurs a maximum of four times per day: Twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon
Each cardinal receives a ballot marked “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I elect as Supreme Pontiff”) and writes in their chosen candidate. They are not permitted to vote for themselves.
They then fold the ballot, hold it up for visibility and carry it to the altar, where a chalice covered by a plate awaits. One by one, the cardinals approach the altar before Michelangelo’s Last Judgement, swear an oath and place their votes in the chalice.
According to Vatican News, each cardinal says aloud, in Italian:
“Chiamo a testimone Cristo Signore, il quale mi giudicherà, che il mio voto è dato a colui che, secondo Dio, ritengo debba essere eletto.”
“I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one whom I believe should be elected according to God.”
Each cardinal places his ballot on a plate, uses it to drop the vote into the chalice, bows towards the altar and then returns to his seat.
Cardinals who are present but unable to walk to the altar due to illness give their folded ballot to one of the scrutineers – a number of cardinals chosen to oversee the voting.The scrutineer brings it to the altar and deposits it in the same manner, without reciting the oath again.
No one except the cardinals is permitted inside the chapel during the conclave. Outside the chapel, there are others involved in the process, such as personnel handling logistics and security, cleaners, medical support staff and other clerics in supporting roles. About 100 additional people have taken the oath of secrecy over and above the voting cardinals.
Italian Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, centre, takes an oath at the beginning of the conclave to elect the next pope in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Monday, April 18, 2005 [File: Osservatore Romano/AP]
What do the cardinals do when they’re not voting?
Conclaves are inherently secretive, but experts say some information is available about what happens when the cardinals are not voting.
“In the course of the days of the conclave, they will move by charter bus around St Peter’s to the Sistine Chapel, enter and have the morning vote,” Steven P Millies, professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union, a Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, told Al Jazeera.
“They will return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae (Latin for Saint Martha’s House, the Vatican guesthouse) and have their midday meal, take their midday nap, and then return for the evening vote (to the Sistine Chapel). And then back again (to the Domus Sanctae Marthae) for a nighttime meal,” he added.
“The Church emphasises that the conclave is a spiritual and sacred process, not a political one,” Father Francis Lucas said.
Some experts argue that most of the social activities and reflections on the previous vote might take place during their time in Saint Martha’s House.
“One imagines that it is in the cafeteria at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where people do eat cafeteria style, they put food on their own trays and that sort of thing,” Millies said.
“There is a lot of time over meals and informal conversations for the cardinals to decipher the meaning of what just happened in the last vote and to try to figure out where their support might go best. This is where coalitions and alliances are made,” he added.
“That doesn’t exclude the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but there certainly is a certain amount of negotiation, alliance-making, shifting alliances, those kinds of things that will happen in those spaces too,” he explained.
What are the food and lodgings like?
According to reports, food is not great during the Conclave.
“The food is pretty ordinary, pasta, soup and fruit, which is how Francis wanted it,” a Vatican insider who has eaten there told the UK’s Times newspaper.
While food during the papal conclave has traditionally been a plain affair, Francis, known for his focus on simplicity and humility, has been partly blamed for the further decline in quality, according to a report by The New York Times. Some cardinals have complained about bland vegetables and uninspired pasta dishes.
“You don’t eat very well,” Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi of Italy, a supporter of Pope Francis, told The New York Times.
After his election, Pope Francis broke with more than a century of Vatican tradition by declining to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. Instead, he chose to live in a simple suite at Santa Marta (Saint Martha’s), where the voting cardinals are currently lodging.
“This room where we are now was a guest room,” Pope Francis said in an interview.
At least 40 pro-Palestinian student protesters were detained at a demonstration inside a library at Columbia University in New York, where activists continue to demand that the college divests from Israel over the war in Gaza.
Love Island’s Curtis Pritchard has called out to his girlfriend Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu’s ex to meet him in the ring after previously requesting a fight with Davide Sanclimenti
Ekin-su Culculoglu’s boyfriend Curtis Pritchard has eyed up another boxing match(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Love Island star Curtis Pritchard has said he wants to fight the man who is claiming to text his girlfriend Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. He wants to meet Married at First Sight star George Berthonneau in the ring after he claimed to be chatting to Ekin-Su.
Ekin-Su won Love Island in 2022 with her ex, Davide Sanclimenti, but they split up on the outside following a rocky romance. She re-entered the Love Island villa in January for the All Stars spin-off and found love with Curtis.
They have been going strong ever since, however, George threw a spanner in the works as he has been dissing Ekin-Su. He alleged he was in a relationship with the brunette beauty while she was dating Curtis.
Speaking on Fubar Radio, George claimed: “On the day before my birthday, she was out with him that night, and they’d had an argument.
Georges has claimed Ekin-Su had been texting him(Image: Channel 4)
“She was messaging me whilst he was asleep in bed with her being like, I need to see you. Blah, blah, blah, like, I’ve got the receipts on my phone.”
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He added: “Everyone was like ‘why are you saying it now?’, because I loved the girl and I didn’t want to let go of it.
“And my biggest thing was, why should I keep protecting someone who can’t even apologise or take accountability.” He continued: “I even said to her on the phone, I was like ‘are you not going to apologise?’
“You had sex with another man whilst I was at home. And you’re not even going to apologise.”
Dancer-turned-boxer Curtis has now had his say and called it all “outside noise” while telling George to give him a call and “get in the ring”.
He told The Sun: “Hey, if he wants to get in the ring with me, tell him to call me out and let’s get in the ring. I’ve just been focusing on the camp. I haven’t read anything or done anything, truthfully. And that’s all that matters to me.
“I’m focusing on the camp, I’m focusing on having fun with Ekin and that’s all that matters to me.”
Curtis insisted he “hasn’t got time” to let “outside noise” get to him. He added that he “can’t be bothered with the whole situation” except thinking of himself, Ekin-Su and fighting.
Curtis previously said he wanted to fight Ekin-Su’s ex-partner Davide in the boxing ring. Being interviewed at a boxing event, Curtis was asked: “Do you have any names of people you would like to call out?”
To which he replied: “I’ve got a couple but I’m not gonna say everyone. But I’ll give you two names. Sammy [Root] from my series of Love Island just gone, because I know that he boxes and so I know that he would perhaps look to do it.
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“And then Davide, which is Ekin’s ex, because I know he never treated her well, so that would be an interesting one.” Curtis make his professional boxing debut on May 16 as part of a Misfits Boxing card.
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Love Island’s Curtis Pritchard has called out to his girlfriend Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu’s ex to meet him in the ring after previously requesting a fight with Davide Sanclimenti
Ekin-su Culculoglu’s boyfriend Curtis Pritchard has eyed up another boxing match(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Love Island star Curtis Pritchard has said he wants to fight the man who is claiming to text his girlfriend Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. He wants to meet Married at First Sight star George Berthonneau in the ring after he claimed to be chatting to Ekin-Su.
Ekin-Su won Love Island in 2022 with her ex, Davide Sanclimenti, but they split up on the outside following a rocky romance. She re-entered the Love Island villa in January for the All Stars spin-off and found love with Curtis.
They have been going strong ever since, however, George threw a spanner in the works as he has been dissing Ekin-Su. He alleged he was in a relationship with the brunette beauty while she was dating Curtis.
Speaking on Fubar Radio, George claimed: “On the day before my birthday, she was out with him that night, and they’d had an argument.
Georges has claimed Ekin-Su had been texting him(Image: Channel 4)
“She was messaging me whilst he was asleep in bed with her being like, I need to see you. Blah, blah, blah, like, I’ve got the receipts on my phone.”
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He added: “Everyone was like ‘why are you saying it now?’, because I loved the girl and I didn’t want to let go of it.
“And my biggest thing was, why should I keep protecting someone who can’t even apologise or take accountability.” He continued: “I even said to her on the phone, I was like ‘are you not going to apologise?’
“You had sex with another man whilst I was at home. And you’re not even going to apologise.”
Dancer-turned-boxer Curtis has now had his say and called it all “outside noise” while telling George to give him a call and “get in the ring”.
He told The Sun: “Hey, if he wants to get in the ring with me, tell him to call me out and let’s get in the ring. I’ve just been focusing on the camp. I haven’t read anything or done anything, truthfully. And that’s all that matters to me.
“I’m focusing on the camp, I’m focusing on having fun with Ekin and that’s all that matters to me.”
Curtis insisted he “hasn’t got time” to let “outside noise” get to him. He added that he “can’t be bothered with the whole situation” except thinking of himself, Ekin-Su and fighting.
Curtis previously said he wanted to fight Ekin-Su’s ex-partner Davide in the boxing ring. Being interviewed at a boxing event, Curtis was asked: “Do you have any names of people you would like to call out?”
To which he replied: “I’ve got a couple but I’m not gonna say everyone. But I’ll give you two names. Sammy [Root] from my series of Love Island just gone, because I know that he boxes and so I know that he would perhaps look to do it.
Article continues below
“And then Davide, which is Ekin’s ex, because I know he never treated her well, so that would be an interesting one.” Curtis make his professional boxing debut on May 16 as part of a Misfits Boxing card.
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