Sky Sports broadcaster Dan Bardell has been left infuriated after he became aware that footage of himself was being used in a promotional clip by Reform UK
Daniel Bird Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor
A Sky Sports star has hit out at his inclusion in a mocking campaign video by Nigel Farage’s Reform.
The right-wing party uploaded a clip making light of the drama surrounding former Shadow Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick being sacked by Kemi Badenoch before defecting to Reform.
A video, shared on the Reform UK page on X (formerly Twitter), compiled clips from various sports deadline-day bulletins and made light of the “absolutely bonkers” and “unusual” day.
The video clip featured the likes of pundits Aidan Magee, Harry Redknapp, Chris Kamara and Dan Bardell. But Sky Sports’ Dan has since taken to social media himself to hit out at the clip and demanded that he be removed entirely.
“I don’t want to be associated with Nigel Farage, can I be removed please?” he said in view of his 50,700 followers. When one X user told Dan to “stick to football,” he replied: “I was, and then I’ve ended up on this video.” Many users were also quick to offer Dan advice.
One asked: “Can they use footage from @SkySports and presenters/contributors without prior consent?” “Did they pay you to use your image? If not,” said a second. While a third penned: “Well-done Dan. Unfair you were used without consent. It’s an implicit endorsement which you have not consented to. A side effect of being on the public domain.”
Another commented: “Reform. Where failed Tories go to keep on riding the gravy train.” While a fifth typed: “It’s not deadline day.” Farage and his team have not responded to the post from Dan.
On Thursday, Tory boss Badenoch accused Jenrick of plotting to inflict the maximum damage on her. Mrs Badenoch learned of the plot after documents were left lying around by a member of his team; it emerged earlier in the day.
Appearing alongside Mr Farage, treacherous Mr Jenrick whined that Britain was broken and the Tories had failed voters. There had been an awkward moment when his new boss announced his defection – but it took a long time for him to emerge.
Mr Jenrick repeatedly refused to personally apologise for his own record as he became the 24th ex-Tory MP to switch. Asked by The Mirror whether Reform members would accept a new MP who bragged about opening asylum hotels when he was a minister, Mr Farage said: “I’m getting people in who are apologetic, who are ashamed of what they’ve done in the past, recognised what went wrong and are determined to get it right.”
He admitted that on Thursday morning, before Mrs Badenoch released the startling accusation, he had only been 60% sure that the defection would actually go ahead. Labour branded Mr Jenrick a shameless chancer as he became the latest Conservative to defect to Mr Farage’s party.
It is an uneasy alliance after the duo has publicly traded blows. Mr Farage told supporters in August last year: “My advice to you would be to say this man is a fraud.
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“This man is not to be trusted. And certainly his party aren’t either.” Mr Farage also previously shared a quote by Mr Jenrick bragging about opening asylum hotels. In 2022, while he was immigration minister, Mr Jenrick said: “More hotels have been coming online almost every month throughout the whole year. What I have done is procure even more.”
The Mirror has approached Reform UK and Sky Sports for comment.
Ashton Kutcher and ex-wife Demi Moore were married from 2005 until 2013. With Demi making savage comments about her actor ex in her memoir, titled Inside Out, in 2019
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Ashton Kutcher has made a rare comment about his ex-wife Demi Moore, sharing a glimpse into how he feels about his former flame.
The That ’70s show star, 47, and Ghost actress Demi, 63, were together from 2003, before they wed in 2005 and eventually split in 2011 before their divorce was finalised in 2013. The pair have generally kept tight-lipped about their romance.
But, in 2019, Demi made some savage remarks about her romance with Ashton in her memoir, Inside Out, in which she accused her ex-husband of repeatedly being unfaithful. She also claimed he broke her sobriety of 20 years. In the book, she claimed she found out about Ashton’s cheating through media reports. She wrote: “Because we had brought a third party into our relationship, Ashton said, that blurred the lines and, to some extent, justified what he’d do.”
Despite her bombshell comments, Demi’s ex Ashton has recently made a rare gushing comment about his ex-wife as he heaped praised over her recent performance in The Substance. The 2024 horror movie sees Demi star as Elisabeth Sparkle, who is a fading performer and decides to inject herself with a mysterious serum, which promises to restore her youth, after she’s fired from her aerobics show. However, things soon take a horrifying turn. Demi received an Oscar nomination for the role, while she scooped a Critics Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for the role.
Praising his ex-wife’s performance, Ashton recently told Entertainment Tonight: “I mean, one, Demi’s performance in The Substance, obviously she got extraordinary accolades. I’m so proud of her. She killed it.” Ashton gushed over Demi’s performance after comparisons between The Substance and his upcoming project, The Beauty, were drawn.
The Beauty, which is created by Ryan Murphy and Matt Hodgson, is a TV series which sees FBI agent Cooper Madsen, played by Evan Peters, who investigates a a sexually transmitted virus that causes physical perfection but has lethal consequences. Ashton plays a tech billionaire who unleashes the drug, called The Beauty, for the disease onto the fashion world.
Ashton and Demi’s romance was a high-profile one, gaining a lot of media attention over the age-gap between the pair. Ashton was 25 while Demi was 40 when they first met. Writing about the period in her life in her 2019 book, Demi said: “I was a 40-year-old who had a big life.
“And Ashton’s adult life was just beginning — I didn’t see all that because I was inside of it. I just felt like a 15-year-old girl hoping somebody liked me,” she admitted. Meanwhile, she told Diane Sawyer in an interview around the time: “I think that I had been responsible for so much of my life, and all of a sudden this window opened up where I was safe.
“I had money. He loved my children. It wasn’t something he feared. He seemed to be comfortable with the enormity of the ex-husband [Willis]. I mean, you know, I felt like I was not coming with baggage. I had trunks,” she said. Before her romance with Ashton, Demi was married to Bruce Willis. She is currently single. Meanwhile Ashton is married to Family Guy star Mila Kunis, who he tied the knot with in 2015.
His start in life was incredibly traumatic, but D:Ream singer Peter Cunnah reveals the joy of finding a whole new family in his late 50s
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Alone, afraid and far from home, Ann McCrea was pulled into the chapel by a nun. The 21-year-old was pushed to her knees, which must have hurt – she’d only given birth a few days previously – before the nun thrust a set of rosary beads at her and barked: “Pray for forgiveness, and for your sins of being a harlot.”
As Ann clasped her hands, she could hear high heels clicking in the hallway. The nun, holding her before the altar, said: “That’s for your sins. That’s your child being taken away.” When a distraught Ann tried to struggle to her feet, the nun restrained her. Six decades on, the baby – Peter Cunnah, the Northern Irish frontman of dance-pop duo D:Ream – pauses and shakes his head. “That system,” he says.
He looks incredulous at the cruel punishment meted out in 1966 to his birth mother, who was unmarried and single, by nuns at mother-and-baby home Nazareth House, near Buncrana in Co Donegal. “And that’s the least of it. Some of these women were worked until they miscarried,” he says.
READ MORE: ‘I’ll never get over brother’s death and it’s OK – we must stop pretending no one dies’
Also known as Magdalene laundries, the homes have become notorious for their historic mistreatment of young, pregnant women in staunchly Catholic Ireland. “In some of these places, they’re finding bodies of babies buried in the grounds,” Peter says. At less than a week old, he was given up for adoption. Ann wouldn’t see her son again for 25 years. When the pair finally met, they were overwhelmed by emotion.
“I remember she said, ‘You smoke other people’s cigarettes?’” recalls Peter. “And I went: ‘Yeah.’ ‘You like spicy foods?’ I went: ‘Yeah…’ It was a really emotional moment where I thought, ‘Good God, she’s got the measure of me, and she’s not even started speaking with me’.”
Peter’s knowledge of his adoption is something that has consumed him, in various forms, throughout his life. But, in the last few months at the age of 59, the musician has finally found the full truth about his family and who he is.
“It’s been the final corner of the jigsaw puzzle,” he says, looking dazed with joy at his recent discoveries. They include a half-sister who, it turns out, is also a professional singer. And a half-brother who, like Peter, had his moments in the spotlight on Top of the Pops. And a father who wasn’t aware he even existed.
When Peter and I speak, he’s in Manchester to mark the release of D:Ream’s new album, Do It Anyway, with a concert alongside Happy Mondays and the Ibiza Orchestra at Cheshire’s Cholmondeley Castle. Adding to the party mood are his newfound family members, who have travelled from their homes across the North of England for the get-together.
All of them surprised Peter by wearing T-shirts printed with the title of D:Ream’s biggest hit – Things Can Only Get Better – poignantly followed by its lyric: “Now you found us.” As reunions go it even surpasses the moment at Glastonbury 2024 when D:Ream were joined by original keyboard player Brian Cox – now better known as a scientist, professor and TV presenter.
“That was such a lovely moment,” recalls Peter with a grin. When he introduced Brian on to the stage, “the roar from the crowd was like being at a football match when someone scores. Just a moment of pure, unadulterated joy”.
Growing up just a few miles from Buncrana, over the border in Londonderry, Peter knew from the age of four that he was adopted. Even before the woman he calls his mum officially broke the news, she dropped hints. “She used to sing Nobody’s Child, that country record!” Peter says, laughing.
“But one night, when we were alone, the truth came out. I said to her, ‘But you’re my real Mammy and Daddy.’” He doesn’t deny his childhood had some dark moments, though. “I had a bad start,” he says. “I came up through the Troubles. Being called a b*****d in the playground hurt. But I dealt with it.”
He was devoted to his adoptive parents, Les and Monica, and they to him – and to his sister Lesley Ann, who was adopted from different birth parents. Then, in 1991, just before D:Ream broke through, a letter arrived for him, care of Monica, via the Catholic Family Care Society. “My mother opened it. I’ll never forget what she said. ‘Son, I’ve been waiting for this letter for you all your life.’” It was from his birth mother. “It was an outpouring of absolute trauma and grief and regret,” says Peter, as he opens his laptop and finds a copy of it.
“Dear Peter and your parents,” he reads. “What you may call me is hard to know what to put in writing. I don’t want very much from you. I just want you to try and understand what I’ve been through for 24 years. Sometimes hell, not knowing anything, being told nothing.
“People through the years saying, ‘Peter will come to you.’ It helped me sometimes to think you will. But when I inquired, they could not do anything for me – up until this year. All I want is a photo and to know something about you. I don’t want to upset you, your family or my own. Peter, you might hate me… in all these 24 years, in my prayers I say, ‘take all sorrows and hatred from my heart’. But it’s still with me. God bless you and your parents… Ann McCrea.”
Peter went to meet Ann in her home in the Northern Irish town of Strabane, where she still lives at the age of 81. He discovered that in 1965 she was the lead singer of an Irish band called The Marines and in a relationship with the drummer. When she became pregnant, she was shipped off to Nazareth House. That was the end of her relationship and her employment in the band. Peter says: “When she saw me in 1991, the first thing she said was: ‘You’re his spit’.”
But she didn’t mean The Marines’ drummer. She meant their guitarist, Patrick Dusky, who was 19 in 1965. “Reading between the lines, I think it might have been a one-night stand,” says Peter. “Ann had tried to reach out to him back then. But her letters were stopped by her very strict Catholic parents.”
A long-overdue mother-son connection was formed – and as it turned out, a mother-mother-son connection. Peter says: “Ann and Monica became good friends. I have a great picture of me sitting between them at a D:Ream gig. I couldn’t have wished for a better outcome.” Ann went on to have four more children – Peter’s half-siblings.
But, out of love and respect for his adoptive father Les – who he describes as a “legend” – he chose not to try to solve the mystery of his paternity. Things stayed that way until Les died in December 2024, five years after Monica’s death. “I felt released from that honour and commitment,” admits Peter. “I thought, I need to do this now.”
So last spring, armed with email addresses and social media profiles dug up after “endless cold nights trawling the internet”, Peter contacted the woman he thought might be Patrick’s daughter. Bradford-based Philippa Hanna is a singer in the gospel world and her dad is called Patrick – but Patrick Hanna.
He’d relocated from Ireland to England and had a career as a travelling musician. Then, came the clincher: Dusky had been his stage name. Peter and Philippa began talking on the phone and forged an instant connection. To confirm what they both felt in their bones, Peter took a DNA test. It was a match with the Hannas. Patrick is his dad, and Philippa his half-sister.
“Philippa and I have struck up a great relationship, and she’s an amazing singer,” says Peter. “The DNA on this side of the family is running hot on music.” It certainly is. Prior to being married to Philippa’s mum Sandra, Patrick was wed to Cherine, with whom he had two children, Jacqui and Stuart Zender.
Stuart joined 1990s funk sensation Jamiroquai and had a child with another of the era’s pop stars – All Saints’ Melanie Blatt. Peter has now connected with Stuart by comparing memories of the music industry. “It was like talking with myself, honestly!” says Peter of their recent meeting in Manchester. “We’ve both been through the mangle of the music biz.”
Last May, Peter received a phone call at his recording studio overlooking Lough Swilly in County Donegal – only a few miles, it turns out, from the institution in which he was born. It was Patrick. “It was so amazing to hear his voice,” says Peter, his voice dropping to a whisper. Again, the connection was instant. “He was so easy to get on with.”
As for meeting the son he never knew he had, it’s been nothing but a tonic for Patrick. “He’s had some ill-health in the last couple of years,” Philippa tells me. “But it’s really given him a fresh wind in his sails.” And what of Ann? She was happy to hear about Peter and Patrick’s reunion.
“My [half-]brother Michael showed her pictures of me with Patrick,” says Peter. “She said she barely recognised him and he looked like an old man! My brother said to her: ‘Have you had a look at yourself recently?’ She did laugh at that.” Despite all those lost years, Peter understands how fortunate he is to have found his birth parents and to have been embraced by them and their families.
At D:Ream’s Manchester concert, Patrick Dusky was down the front, beaming and giving his long-lost son the thumbs-up – one dyed-in-the-wool entertainer to another. “If I was Elton John, I’d have him on stage with me!” laughs Peter. “But I am thinking about this year. It’s Patrick’s 80th, and my 60th, so I’m going to rent a mansion, with a pool and 40-odd rooms, and bring everyone over and have a big celebration.”
Who, I ask Peter, has been the most emotional, the most tearful, in all this? “Probably me,” he smiles. “I wear my heart on my sleeve. And with all that’s gone on, why wouldn’t I? There’s been enough hidden and held back. They say boys don’t cry. Well, they do, when it’s important. What was more important than finding family?”
*D:Ream’s album Do It Anyway is out now. See here for full 2026 uk tour dates
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Aldi seems to think now is the time for shoppers to start buying
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Aldi customers may need to do a double-take if they pop in any time soon. The shelves are now stocked with Easter eggs, various much-loved snacks, and a special 20p-per-item offer – despite it still being January.
The supermarket’s launch came 78 days before Easter Sunday, which this year falls on April 5. Chocolate Mini Eggs at just £1.15, Specially Selected Luxury Fruited Hot Cross Buns at £1.49 for four, and 150g packs of Dairyfine Filled Mini Eggs at £2.49 are among the numerous products on offer. However, one of its cheapest deals involves its Village Bakery Fruited Hot Cross Buns.
While these soft and ‘lightly spiced’ snacks are priced at £1.19 for a six-pack, the cost works out at 20p per bun. Alongside this, the supermarket described: “Aldi is also bringing back its popular Chocolate Mini Eggs. The Choceur Mini Chocolate Eggs (£1.15, 74g) return in three crowd-pleasing flavours: zesty Orange, cool Mint, and the NEW velvety Caramel.
“Each bite-sized treat features a crisp candy shell and smooth chocolate centre. The much-loved Dairyfine Filled Mini Eggs (£2.49, 150g) are also back. Nutoka combines a milk chocolate shell with a smooth, hazelnut-flavoured filling, while Jaffa pairs dark chocolate with a zesty, orange-infused centre for a bold, citrusy twist.”
For an extra ‘touch of luxury’, shoppers can also bag Aldi’s Moser Roth Luxury Filled Eggs, costing £2.79 for a 150g pack. Featuring a ‘smooth chocolate shell’, these eggs are filled with either Milk Truffle, Milk Hazelnut, or Crispy Hazelnut.
Aldi’s Specially Selected Luxury and Village Bakery Fruited Hot Cross Buns, along with its Dairyfine and Moser Roth Chocolate Mini Eggs, are now available in stores nationwide. A full Easter range will be landing in stores over the coming weeks.
The supermarket’s early Easter launch also comes less than a month after Norwich’s Poundland shelves were notably packed with Easter eggs and bunnies, even though Christmas had not yet passed. Mini Eggs, Creme Eggs and Maltesters Bunnies were among the numerous products on offer, all stocked alongside Christmas crackers and decorations.
While some might argue that it’s never too early to indulge in Easter snacks, other shoppers felt the move was far too premature. At the time, several customers voiced their disapproval about this, including Simon Dade, 69, who told the Mirror: “It’s way too early, it’s like selling Christmas trees in spring. I don’t celebrate Easter and I know it’s important to some people, but I don’t understand why they have to be on shelves now.”
Sue Rose, 71, echoed this sentiment, stating: “I think it’s ridiculous and spoils it for children, especially because it makes it less special if they are available this soon. I mean, Christmas hasn’t even gone yet, and it ruins the magic. It isn’t like it used to be in the city this time of year and shops doing things like this to get money is part of the problem.”
When probed about the premature appearance of Easter eggs, a representative for Poundland said in December: “Some stores have started to give a sneak peek into what’s coming in 2026, but they are also still stocked full of Christmas goodies too.
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“To be honest, it’s never too early for a Creme Egg.”
What Love Island season was Molly-Mae Hague on? – The Mirror
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Need to know
New episodes of Molly-Mae’s Behind It All documentary are now streaming on Prime Video
Molly-Mae’s Love Island season explained as star returns with new documentary
The second instalment of Molly-Mae’s documentary ‘Molly-Mae: Behind It All’ has finally dropped on Prime Video today (January 16) following an explosive return last year. The first three episodes of Season 2 dropped back in October, giving fans an exclusive insight into her life and relationship with Tommy Fury.
Those who tuned in to the first three episodes will remember that the influencer opened up about everything from her struggles with childcare to her rocky relationship with the boxer. Now, the remaining episodes are available to stream as Prime Video teases: “The former Love Island star is once again giving fans an intimate look behind the scenes of her glamorous life, in a fresh instalment of her hit docuseries.”
Molly-Mae has gone from strength to strength since she first rose to fame following her Love Island stint, but what season was the star in the villa? Molly-Mae appeared back in 2019. She was just 20 years old when she entered the villa during Season 5.
Fans may remember that the former Love Island star entered as a bombshell on the show and set her sights on Tommy and Curtis Pritchard, taking both on a date when she first arrived. However, it was her connection with Tommy that blossomed throughout her time in the villa, with the two even becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.
Molly-Mae and Tommy went on to finish runner-up, with Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea winning the show, with the two taking their relationship to the outside world and building a life together.
Fans can get an exclusive insight into Molly-Mae’s life as she shares all about her relationship, including their split, and her family life in the brand new episodes of Molly-Mae: Behind It All – streaming now on Prime Video.
Read the full story: Molly-Mae says it’s ‘bittersweet’ as she addresses Tommy Fury move
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Puccini in Swinton has been a popular spot for more than 40 years but is now closing for good after trade plummeted, staff became harder to find and costs rose
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A restaurant that has welcomed sporting legends and celebrities is shutting its doors after more than four decades in business.
Puccini first launched in Swinton, Greater Manchester back in 1982, and has been operated by Michele Pucci since 1990. Now, he says he has been left with little option but to permanently close the Chorley Road establishment. The 65-year-old explains that since the pandemic, custom has declined, recruiting skilled staff has become increasingly difficult, and with soaring overheads they “simply can’t afford to be here anymore”.
“Trade is dying, Swinton is dying and we’re dying in Swinton,” he said. “I have tried really hard to keep it going, but the council is doing nothing to support local businesses and the landlord isn’t interested.
“We’re closed at the moment for three weeks holiday but we won’t be reopening and I just want to thank customers for their support over the years as they have helped us to keep going for so long.”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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The Italian eatery, known locally as Puccinis, has been a firm favourite with sports teams over the years. The England football squad once reserved the entire venue, whilst former Manchester United stars Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs were regular diners – so frequent that the menu even featured a Penne Alla Neville dish named after Gary.
Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone visited in 2015 during a break from shooting a Warburtons advert in Bolton, whilst other notable guests have included ex-Prime Minister David Cameron, Alex Ferguson, Sven-Goran Eriksson and several boxing champions including Joe Fraser and Roberto Duran. “It is not the same as it used to be,” said Michele, whose twin sons Nicholas and Christopher, now 42, used to work at the family restaurant when they were younger.
“The area is run down, parking is very difficult and some of the older people who used to come have sadly passed away. Younger generations want to be in new places and different places and I don’t blame them.
“We do still have our loyal customers and if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have been here for so long, but it’s not enough to keep going. Sometimes at weekends it’s still busy but in the week it’s quiet and I still have to pay for staff.”
Since Brexit, Michele says recruiting staff has become increasingly difficult, with many previously arriving from overseas. “A lot of English people prefer other jobs as the hours are very anti-social and catering isn’t for everybody – you work weekends, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, it’s a big sacrifice,” he said. “After Covid, a lot of people found other jobs that pay better so we don’t have much choice and people aren’t trained up so that’s another problem because it takes time to train people up.”
He says he’s ‘not a politician’, but from what he witnesses in his restaurant, what the government is doing isn’t working – and battling to try to make it work is making him ill. “This is our little kingdom and it’s failing,” he explained.
“With National Insurance, VAT, rent, rates, gas, electric, wages, suppliers, all of that, it’s just too much. I’m disappointed because we tried our best, but we have been left with no choice.
“I’m sad we have to close but it is now affecting my health. For the last year and a half I have been working 60/70 hours a week, six days a week. Money comes and goes but I have to look after my health.”
Michele, whose charity nights at the restaurant have generated hundreds of thousands of pounds for numerous good causes through the years, has informed his team that the doors won’t reopen. Approximately 15 jobs, both full-time and part-time, will be impacted.
He’s now supporting his wife as she launches her own coffee shop and wine bar in the area, though he’ll be taking a less hands-on approach to her new business.
Just last month, we covered the ongoing demands to revitalise Swinton and tear down the Lancastrian Hall and Central Library, which sit adjacent to the restaurant.
Salford council confirmed there are no current plans for the building, though stressed that a strategy for its future is being developed.
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A council spokesperson commented: “Swinton has many strengths, but like other towns, it needs investment and regeneration to deliver its potential. Salford’s town centres are important to the city’s future, and the council identified Eccles and Swinton as priority areas for regeneration.
