Josie Gibson, one of This Morning’s best known presenters, has admitted that an appearance on the ITV show triggered a “scary” health struggle behind-the-scenes
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Television presenter Josie Gibson has spoken about her early days presenting This Morning, and how she really felt when she first started appearing on the programme.
Josie, 40, who rose to fame when she won Big Brother in 2010, said that she was initially very scared, and nearly had a panic attack on her first day in the studio.
I’m A Celebrity star Josie, who has also presented reality television shows and fitness DVDs in the past, became part of the This Morning presenting line-up in 2018, fronting the competitions segment.
When asked by Best UK how it felt transitioning from taking charge of competitions to presenting the ITV show, Josie said: “I just couldn’t believe it…It’s still a ‘pinch me’ moment.
“I was scared to begin with, the first time I went into the studio I nearly had a panic attack. I couldn’t breathe or talk. But I’m just so thankful to This Morning; they really took a chance on me and then stuck with me.”
She has also recently opened up about her weight loss journey and the impact of the ‘1970s diet’ challenge she undertook, one of the methods she has used to lose five stone (31.75kg).
Appearing in a Channel 5 documentary titled ‘The 1970s Diet: Could it Work for you?’ Josie explored the world of eating from 50 years ago by cutting portion sizes and sugar intake, as well as focusing on more boiled foods.
Furthermore, Josie also took up intermittent fasting for three days a week, while doing more exercise.
As more people have noticed Josie’s weight loss, the presenter has been forced to push back against those who claim she did it through medication or surgery. In an Instagram post, she addressed those claims.
She said: “I didn’t get a gastric bypass; I got off my big a**e, moved more, ate less and educated myself on what I was stuffing into my body.”
Josie, who was recently diagnosed with lipedema, a condition that causes a disproportionate build-up of fat, has also spoken to the Mirror about what it was like doing the 1970s diet.
She said that she initially though the diet would cause her to put on weight due to the high number of carbohydrates, but was reassured to find that whilst she was heavier than she wanted to be before starting the diet, she wasn’t unfit.
Speaking of an interaction with a nutritionist whilst filming she said: “It was nice to know that even though I was overweight, I was at a supreme fitness level. I was expecting to have a low fitness level, even though I’ve always exercised. But he was like, ‘No, you’re at a superior fitness rate’.
BBC viewers saw Thomas Skinner compete on Strictly Come Dancing last year with Amy Dowden.
Thomas Skinner has announced he’ll be heading back to the BBC following his absence from the Strictly Come Dancing final last month.
Speaking on Tuesday’s (January 13) edition of Good Morning Britain, the former Apprentice contestant joined ITV hosts Ed Balls and Susanna Reid for a candid discussion. Last year saw Thomas paired with beloved professional Amy Dowden on Strictly, who recently detailed his decision not to appear on the finale. His involvement attracted considerable online criticism even before his first performance.
The businessman became the first contestant eliminated from the competition, leading to claims among viewers that the public vote had been manipulated due to the surrounding controversy.
However, Susanna read out an official BBC statement during the interview, which confirmed: “Strictly Come Dancing’s public vote is independently overseen and verified to ensure complete accuracy every week. Any claims to the contrary are entirely without foundation.”
During the chat, Thomas reflected on his short-lived Strictly journey and disclosed his intentions to collaborate with the broadcaster again. Discussing speculation around potential legal proceedings against the BBC, Thomas explained: “I did have some chats with the BBC, I did.
“They said ‘You’ve been sent something you shouldn’t have been sent, it is what it is. We think you should get some legal advice.’ That was the chat with the BBC. I’ve got no rows with the BBC, I was on the Celebrity Apprentice raising money for Children in Need a week after, and I’m doing bits with them next year.”
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Susanna pointed out that he was absent from the reunion finale, prompting him to share his reasons.
He explained: “The reason I didn’t come back, this is the honest truth. I thought, I’ve had all this bad press, I’ve been front page every time I’ve been on the show, I didn’t want to take away from everyone else.
“I didn’t want my wife to think, ‘Oh, there’s another story about us now.’ It wasn’t fair. But anyway, I ended up being front page anyway! So it didn’t really matter.”
Although Thomas missed the Strictly final, which saw Karen Carney and Carlos Gu triumph, he revealed that Amy has become a ‘family friend’. He also mentioned to Susanna and Ed that he’s arranged to play golf with Strictly pro Kai Widdrington in the upcoming weeks.
Reflecting on the media attention during his time on the BBC programme, Thomas confessed: “It was stupid, there were journalists outside my house following my wife back from Sainsbury’s, I saw my wife getting upset, and that’s what hurt me more than anything, my wife and my family.
“They were knocking on my sister’s door, they were knocking on my friends door, they sat in my local pub and offered people money to sell stories on me! It was mad.2
Thomas might of gone out first on Strictly, but his time on the BBC programme was far from smooth sailing. Things didn’t get off to a great start for the BBC star, when he stormed out of an interview after snatching a reporter’s phone.
It was claimed he would be ‘suing the BBC’ for rigged voting claims following his early exit from the BBC show. He said he had received an “anonymous email” the night he got the boot from the show, which prompted his concerns.
Following that, Tom then said he had asked to see the official voting figures, but claimed the email ‘couldn’t be shown to him’, and he did not attend the final despite all the other celebrities returning.
“I also want to be honest. I know what’s likely to come next. I expect people will call me a liar, they’ll try to cancel me, say I’m hated, or even claim I didn’t get any votes at all. At this point, I don’t care anymore. I know what’s right, and I know the conversations I’ve had,” he said in a statement, “I understand that much of what’s happened is my own fault. I know I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life and I hold my hands up to that.
“I’m not perfect and I’ve never pretended to be. But what I can’t accept is my family being dragged into this. So I need to take a step back. I never wanted any of this to become public.”
He later admitted he “regretted” signing up for the show but vowed to continue working with the BBC after they gave him his “big break” on The Apprentice several years ago.
“If I’m being completely honest, I really regret doing Strictly Come Dancing. I wish I’d never done it,” he shared, “The only positive to come from it was making a new friend in Amy, who is a genuinely lovely person. Aside from that, it’s brought a huge amount of negative attention, and it has affected me more than I’d like to admit.”
The Mirror exclusively revealed that Skinner’s voting figures weren’t what they might have seemed. Insiders have pointed to an independent exit poll of 125,000 viewers which was carried out concurrently by website Strictly Spoiler as “clear evidence of his unpopularity.” It shows how Skinner attracted just 1805 votes, which was the lowest of any contestant on the BBC programme.
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Like the official voting figures which are then combined with the judges’ scores, it placed Skinner bottom. A source claims: “The poll – which is larger than an exit poll for a general election – comprehensively shows that Skinner was the least popular contestant by a long way. There is no conspiracy. These are the cold, hard facts.”
Trisha Goddard has shared a powerful update on her stage four breast cancer and revealed how treatment, fitness and family support are helping her live well with the disease
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Trisha Goddard has shared a candid update on her health after confronting the return of breast cancer, describing a hearbreaking question she was forced to ask her doctor.
The TV presenter, now 68, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and successfully beat the disease. She later rebuilt her life in the United States with her fourth husband, Allen, settling in Connecticut and continuing her broadcasting career. However, that sense of stability was shattered in July 2022 when she discovered the cancer had returned.
This time, the diagnosis was far more serious. Trisha learned she had stage four breast cancer that had spread to her hip and was told it was treatable but not curable. The devastating news followed a traumatic accident at her home, where a fall left her with a shattered femur and in severe pain.
Recalling the moment she found out, Trisha told Closer: “At the hospital, I was off my face on every drug known to man when an intern wandered in and said, ‘Oh, yeah, you’ve got a cancerous tumour.’ That’s how I found out and I said, ‘Am I going to die?’”
Throughout the ordeal, Trisha says her husband Allen, whom she affectionately calls Boo, has been her rock. The couple met in the US in 2017 and married in August 2022, just weeks after her diagnosis. Trisha acknowledges that her illness has echoed painful memories for Allen, whose first wife died from breast cancer, leaving him a single father to two young children.
“I’m lucky to have Allen,” she said. “His first wife died with breast cancer and he was left a single dad of two children aged nine and 11. The first thing I said to him was, ‘I’m sorry to put you through this again.’ He comes to all my appointments and sat with me during chemo. I’m blessed.”
In addition to her husband’s support, Trisha has spoken about the importance of having a wide-ranging medical and emotional care team. She counts a nutritionist, a gastroenterologist, massage therapists and personal trainers among those helping her manage life with cancer. She also sees a specialist psychologist every week to ensure the emotional burden does not fall entirely on her marriage.
“I also see a specialist psychologist every Tuesday, so I don’t dump everything at Allen’s door. I have a support system – that’s the backbone – I’m not Wonder Woman. And not for a moment do I think everyone is as fortunate,” she said.
The care she has received has also inspired her to campaign for improved services in the UK for people living with life-limiting conditions. Trisha recently met with Ashley Dalton MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, who also has metastatic breast cancer, to advocate for better support.
Encouragingly, Trisha says her current treatment is working well. “My cancer counts are very low; my oncologist calls me entry level,” she revealed. Her regime includes regular injections, infusions and a daily pill, alongside a strict commitment to fitness. She power walks daily, trains at the cancer centre gym several times a week and even enjoys ice-skating.
Fans of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things are up in arms about a wild theory that Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour’s final scenes were faked. It comes after reports of bullying allegations on set
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The Stranger Things fandom are in a frenzy after one eagled-eyed viewer spotted something telling about Hopper and Eleven’s final scenes.
The show’s epic finale landed on Netlix on New Year’s Day and ever since, viewers have been pouring over every single shot as they mourn the ending of the series. The cast’s farewell after 10 years of filming togther came after Eleven actor Millie Bobby Brown reportedly made a formal complaint accusing her co-star David Harbour (Hopper) of harassment and bullying before production began on the hit Netflix show’s fifth and final season. A source said: “There were pages and pages of accusations. The investigation went on for months.”
However, not long after the allegations came to light, David and Millie made a public display of unity by walking into the Stranger Things red carpet final premiere on 6 November and hugging in front of the media. Millie also likened co-star and screen dad David to her father calling their friendship “special”. When asked about the importance of showing a united front, to which Millie said: “We’ve been doing that for the last 10 years.”
What really happened on set of the Duffer brother’s show remains a mystery, but one fan believes that the last episodes of the show pointed to things not being so cosy between David and Millie during filming. Self-proclaimed pop culture fanatic Matthew Huff took to TikTok to share his theory that both actors filmed their joint scenes seperately amid tensions – with producers simply cutting them together in the final edit.
In a now-viral video, Matt, who posts as @thereportcardmatthewhuff, shared: “I think there is evidence that these two HATE each other,” pointing to images of the co-stars embracing on November 6, 2025. “Supposedly, these two had ‘beef’ on set but they’re promoting the show so they did this staged photoshoot at the premiere like they’re buddy-buddy,” said Matthew before showing a screengrab of a video “Netflix released of them hugging”.
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On November 26, Millie told The Hollywood Reporter that “everything was fine” with her on-screen dad, the content creator explained, before stating that, despite this, he had been “watching these two the entire season with an eagle eye”.
Referring to Eleven’s goodbye to Hopper, he claimed: “I think this scene in the season finale is very telling. Why is it telling? Because there is a decades-old tradition of actors hating each other but having to do scenes together. So they came up with some very clever camera tricks to make it appear that these two people are shooting together when, actually, they are not speaking. They are not in the same room”.
“They’re coming up on to the roof. This is their final scene of the show so it should be very emotional,” Matthew says, showing clips of Millie in grey. “We have this shot where Millie Bobby Brown is in the front. There is somebody in the background, maybe David Harbour but its dark, we can’t really tell.”
He prefaces how there is then “one very quick establishing shot where Millie is in the foreground and David is in the back. I do think everybody was in the room for this”. However, the TikToker things that after this, things change. “Very quickly, we pivot,” Matthew claims, showing a shot where “Harbour has his back to the camera” and saying: “I think that is a body double”.
He continues: “We then then get a shot with no David Harbour, and we very briefly see this [a dimly lit shot with Harbour in the background] which I think could have been edited to add him in”. The creator the highlights the scene circling back to Harbour’s back facing the camera as he crouches in the background, adding that “he’s squatting in the corner for no reason”.
The scene peaks during the emotional exchange between Eleven and her adoptive father Hopper. Matthew states: “I think this could be a ‘Parent Trap’ shot where as long as they [the actors] don’t cross the middle of this shot, its fine”. Here he refers to the editing done to actress Lindsey Lohan, and later seen of Michael B. Jordan in Sinners, where clips are lined up to mimic one shot.
Suggesting several close-up shots could potentially be the real actor or parts of body doubles, the scene “very quickly zooms in so that we don’t even have Harbour’s silhouette [in the shot]”.
The “biggest tell of all,” and “the real red flag,” says Matthew, is that “we don’t even get a full hug shot. Instead, Eleven passes the bracelet to a gloved hand, which could be anyone. Rather than any sort of emotional hug which would have required these two actors to be in the same room, we get this light little arm tap. There’s nothing like an arm tap to say ‘oh, I’m about to die. I might never see you again,'” he jokes.
The analysis concludes with a zoom in of the final shot, showing an extremely poorly lit scene of David Harbour and “the back of someone, perhaps not Millie.”. Posted a week ago, the TikTok has received nearly 658,000 views, 54,200 likes and nearly 400 comments. Interestingly, one comment wrote: “I got the vibe when I noticed that ‘Papa’ officiated her wedding and not ‘hop,'” which was liked by 847 users.
It has been three months since the “ceasefire” took hold in Gaza. In this time, Israel has predictably refused to comply with its obligations under the deal. It continues to block the negotiated amounts of aid into the Strip. Adequate food, medicine and temporary shelters are not reaching us. The Rafah crossing remains closed and those needing urgent medical evacuations still cannot leave.
Israel also continues to bomb us, killing more than 400 people since October 10. The Israeli army continues to demolish Palestinian homes beyond the so-called yellow line, laying waste to whole neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, there is ongoing mediation to push the ceasefire into phase two, where the army would withdraw and reconstruction would begin. While these efforts offer some hope that the situation in Gaza may improve, there is one important issue that they are failing to address: The fate of the Palestinians who remain in Israeli captivity.
After Israel received all its captives, except for the body of a deceased one, there has been no talk of the continuous suffering of Palestinians who were forcibly disappeared from Gaza by the Israeli army. There are at least 1,800 Palestinians from Gaza who remain detained; that is in addition to more than 8,000 others who have been kidnapped from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
My brother is one of those 1,800 people from Gaza.
Khalid is a 34-year-old father of three. His children, Dyala, 8, Hamdan, 10, and Abeer, 11, were the centre of his life before his abduction.
Khalid went missing on December 3, 2023. We – 17 family members – had just fled our home in Shujayea neighbourhood because of Israeli attacks and were sheltering at the Western Directorate of Education in Gaza City, near Yarmouk Stadium.
At night, I woke up to the sound of heavy military vehicles moving in. I realised my brother, who had been sleeping next to me, was gone.
Hours later, Israeli forces stormed the building and forcibly separated the women and children from the older boys and men. We were eventually let go, and 15 of us reunited at al-Shifa hospital; Khalid and our father were missing.
Fifteen days later, we learned that our father had been released and was sent to Rafah. We were able to get in touch with him, and he said he believed Khalid had also been detained in the Israeli attack, not killed.
Almost one year later, as we took shelter at my sister’s house in Shujayea, I received a call from a Red Cross employee, asking if Khalid was my brother. My heart dropped. I asked for any news about Khalid; was he still alive? I was informed my brother was alive, detained in the notorious Ofer prison.
When the January 2025 ceasefire was announced, hope returned. We were finally reunited with our father, who was able to come to the north.
We also expected Khalid’s name to show up in the lists of Palestinian prisoners Israel was going to release in the multiple exchanges of captives.
My younger brother, Mohammed, and I anxiously scrolled through the names. Khalid’s name did not appear on any list. Later, we heard from several freed prisoners that Khalid was being held in Nafha Prison.
When the October ceasefire was announced, we searched the list again. A total of 1,718 civilians kidnapped from Gaza, along with only 250 Palestinians unjustly serving life or long sentences, were released.
Khalid was not among them.
This broke me in ways I can’t describe. I cannot fully express the depth of my disappointment in a world so unjust.
Some days, the longing for my brother feels heavier than I can carry. I think about him constantly, about where he is and what he’s going through. The distance between us feels unbearable. There are moments when I would do anything just to see him, even briefly, just to know he’s still there.
The separation has settled into my life in a quiet, exhausting way. It follows me everywhere, shaping my days and filling the spaces he used to occupy.
When I look at Dyala, Hamdan, and Abeer, my eyes fill with tears. Eight months ago, their mother, Nadia, was killed when the cafe she worked in was bombed by the Israeli army; 38 others were massacred with her.
The author’s nieces, Abeer and Dyala and his nephew Hamdan in Gaza [Courtesy of Yusuf El-Mbayed]
Now, the three live without either parent.
I long to see Khalid’s face free from fear and violence. I dream of laughing with him, hugging him and spending time together.
I am one of thousands of Palestinians who are held prisoner to constant fear and anxiety for their loved ones held in Israel’s dungeons. We have all heard the horrifying stories from released prisoners about the torture and abuse. We have seen bodies, shrunk and emaciated; skin, bruised and melted.
Israel has celebrated the return of all its captives – dead or alive – as a diplomatic victory, a moment of closure. But for Palestinians, there is no closure. No one is celebrating. Our loved ones remain in captivity.
To those at the negotiation table: We urgently call on you to bring the issue of Palestinian prisoners back. This is not a matter that can be put off – it is a moral and urgent imperative. Palestinian prisoners are not a file to be shelved; they are human beings who deserve dignity and justice. Their lives are in imminent danger.
To Khalid: Your absence pains us and we long for your return. We will not rest until you are back with us. We will wait for you, dear Khalid, for as long as it takes.
Alpine have released Australian Jack Doohan before the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The 22-year-old drove in six grands prix for the Renault-owned team at the start of last season before being replaced by Argentine Franco Colapinto.
Doohan stayed on with Alpine for the remainder of last year, reverting to the role of reserve driver he had held since since 2023.
Alpine have retained Estonian Paul Aron as a reserve driver, while Colapinto stays on as a race driver alongside Frenchman Pierre Gasly.
Alpine said they had “reached a mutual agreement with Jack Doohan to not continue his driving services with the team for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season and allow him to pursue other career opportunities”.
They added: “The team would like to thank Jack for his commitment and professionalism to the team for the past four years, both on and off track, and wishes him all the best for the future.”
F1 pre-season testing starts at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 26-30 January with a private session in which teams are allowed to run on three of the five days to test out their new cars, following the introduction of major rule changes that include new designs for chassis and engine.
