Friends star Jennifer Aniston endured secret 20-year battle to have a baby

Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green in Friends for 10 years, has also addressed claims she chose not to have children because she’s a “selfish workaholic”

Hollywood icon Jennifer Aniston has blasted claims she didn’t want to become a mother because she’s a “selfish workaholic”.

The Friends actress, who was married to Brad Pitt for five years, also told how she endured a two-decade secret battle to have a baby. In a rare interview published today, Jennifer, 56, said she felt she needed to correct the “false narrative” about why she hasn’t started a family.

Jennifer said: “They didn’t know my story, or what I’d been going through over the past 20 years to try to pursue a family, because I don’t go out there and tell them my medical woes.

“That’s not anybody’s business. But there comes a point when you can’t not hear it – the narrative about how I won’t have a baby, won’t have a family, because I’m selfish, a workaholic. It does affect me – I’m just a human being. We’re all human beings. That’s why I thought, ‘What the hell?'”

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Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar UK, the actress talked about her unsuccessful attempt at IVF – and admitted she wished she had frozen her eggs years earlier. Jennifer, who played Rachel Green in Friends for 10 years, continued: “The news cycle is so fast, it just goes away. Of course, there are times when I feel that sense of justice – when something has been said that isn’t true and I need to right the wrong. And then I think, do I really? My family knows my truth, my friends know my truth.”

The star split with Brad in 2005 after the actor met Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. In a previous interview, Jennifer said “nobody did anything wrong” in relation to the breakup. She since dated Justin Theroux for six years, a relationship which ended in 2017.

Jennifer described the subsequent IVF struggle as “a challenging road”. In a previous interview, the celeb, born in Los Angeles, California, had said: “My late 30s, 40s, I’d gone through really hard sh*t, and if it wasn’t for going through that, I would’ve never become who I was meant to be. I was trying to get pregnant.

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“All the years and years and years of speculation… It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it.”

Jennifer was 35 when she split with Brad, who went on to have six children with Angelina. However, Jennifer previously said the suggestion he left her because she wouldn’t give him a child was an “absolute lie.”

Ant McPartlin’s ex-wife Lisa Armstrong puts fire-ravaged former marital home on market

Ant McPartlin, part of the Ant & Dec duo, was married to Lisa Armstrong – a make-up artist and former member of pop band Deuce – for 12 years until their divorce in 2018

Ant McPartlin’s ex-wife Lisa Armstrong has put their fire-ravaged former marital home on the market as she “just wants to get shot of it”.

Although the five-bedroom property is on sale for an asking price of £3.4million, Lisa will take a financial hit on the property as it was reportedly worth in the region of £7-£8million before the blaze. Friends, though, say 48-year-old Lisa hopes to move on from what is said to be “the only thing linking her to Ant”.

The fire in September 2023 caused significant damage to the lavish mansion in Chiswick, west London, and so Lisa attempted to sell the property some months later for £4million. However, it is back on the market now with the value slashed again, and it is believed potential buyers will have a restoration job on their hands.

A friend said: “Lisa just wants to house off her hands now, she wants shot of it. Apart from her dog Hurley, the house is the only thing linking her to Ant now and she feels it’s time to let go, even though it means she will take a hit in the pocket.”

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Ant, 49, and Lisa divorced in 2018 after a 12-year marriage. Lisa, former member of pop band Deuce, had the house and, when she eventually tried to sell it, she reportedly became fed up with receiving low ball offers and “nosey” parties who just wanted to take a look around the place with no real interest in buying. It was then removed from the market in January 2024.

But the advert is back on Rightmove, which states the property “presents a unique opportunity to restore and enhance a residence to its former glory.” The ad, which gives no details of the fire, continues: “The property boasts impressive proportions throughout, including a generous fully fitted kitchen/dining room, expansive main reception room with tall ceilings, and five double bedrooms.”

And the friend told the Daily Mail: “Lisa had loads of derisory offers, some of them were actually quite insulting and many people were simply put off by the fire damage.

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‘But it’s in such a desired location, some houses in the same street are going for big money, so it’s still an attractive property to purchase. At its new price, she’s confident of selling the house this time.”

The Celebrity Traitors star Ruth Codd shares tragic reason behind leg amputation

Ruth Codd, who is in this year’s The Celebrity Traitors on BBC One alongside 18 other stars, wants to raise awareness about amputations following a horrific injury

Ruth Codd – the Irish actress in The Celebrity Traitors – described her leg amputation as the “greatest challenge” she has ever faced.

The star’s candid interview, which has resurfaced following her appearance in the new series last night, details why Ruth, now 29, had her right leg amputated below the knee. The actress had injured her foot playing football when she was 15 and, in around 2019, she suffered further complications which led to the surgery.

Ruth, from Wexford, Ireland, said she made the decision to help relieve the pain and gain more control over her life. Ruth has learned in the subsequent years to use a prosthetic leg, she told the Irish Examiner. This interview from 2022 has resurfaced today following interest on Ruth and her injury.

She said: “My injury is the greatest challenge I’ve faced in my life so far. I injured it playing soccer at the age of 15. It never healed correctly so until I was 23, I was on and off crutches, getting loads of operations. Because of nerve damage and chronic pain, I chose to get it amputated. It took eight years of my life, constantly going in and out of hospital.

“My whole life revolved around trying to heal my leg. For years, I didn’t see it getting any better. I was stuck in a really bad mindset and I was pissed off at life. When I made the decision to amputate it, things finally started to turn around. It was a relief. I could get on my life.”

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In The Celebrity Traitors, Ruth and 18 other stars compete to prove themselves as either a Faithful or a Traitor. The other celebs include actor and broadcaster Sir Stephen Fry and Olympian Tom Daley.

Ruth, who portrayed Anya in the Netflix thriller series The Midnight Club, previously spoke of her delight to partake in the show. Her enthusiasm was mirrored by the BBC unscripted director Syeda Irtizaali, who said of the show in the summer: “It was a real pleasure to cast this series. I think where we started with was we wanted to have a really broad range of people, obviously, but we also wanted people that were real fans of the show, that really understood it.

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“I was worried about it; I was worried about how they were going to play it compared to members of the public, but we have nothing to worry about. They really play the game, and some of the things that you’ll see them doing are extraordinary; that’s all I’m going to say. It’s well worth the wait.”

‘Deeply romantic’ Louis Tomlinson admits true feelings for girlfriend Zara McDermott

One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson recently sat down for an in-depth interview and opened up about his relationship with Love Island star Zara McDermott

One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has revealed his true feelings for his girlfriend, Zara McDermott. Love Island star Zara and singer Louis were dating privately for several months before going public with their relationship in June, with a loved-up snap of the smitten pair kissing.

Zara, who split from ex-boyfriend Sam Thompson in December after a five-year relationship, has also reportedly gradually moved into his north London mansion. And now, Louis shared further insight into their new romance during a rare interview while promoting his latest project.

During a chat on The Diary Of A CEO, with presenter Steven Bartlett, he mentioned being “in love” with the TV personality.

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He said: “I’m a deeply, deeply romantic person. It’s also easy to to be romantic when you are a creative. I really struggle to write in a fictional sense, I really struggle.

“For me, I have to have been living it, it has to be real to me. So if I wasn’t feeling so good, like right now, I wasn’t feeling so in love…the record probably would have a slightly different feel to it.”

Zara and Louis confirmed their relationship on Instagram earlier this summer, much to the delight of fans. In June, Zara posted a sweet snap of the two smooching, with Louis commenting, “I love you.”

The post was met with support from both families as Zara’s brother responded, “beautiful couple,” while Louis’ sister added, “love love.”

It was reported the couple first started dating at the beginning of this year but wanted to keep things private until they were ready to tell the world.

Their first public appearance was at Glastonbury Festival in June, where they were seen in a TikTok video embracing while watching a performance. Louis had his arms around Zara, who looked loved-up and at ease as she leaned back on his shoulder.

While their romance has gone from strength to strength, their relationship faced at least one awkward moment earlier this summer when Louis and Sam were both taking part in Soccer Aid.

Zara and Louis’ relationship appears to be progressing quickly, with friends reportedly viewing the pairing as serious.

According to sources close to the couple, this summer was spent travelling together before returning to the UK at which point Zara began using Louis’ home as her base.

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Victoria Beckham recalls becoming ‘good at lying’ while hiding crippling eating disorder

The former Spice Girl has revealed how she struggled to hide her eating disorder from her parents after leaving the band

Victoria Beckham has revealed that she suffered from a crippling eating disorder that she learned to keep from her loved ones after leaving the Spice Girls.

In her new documentary, the star shared that she stopped eating because she was felt unable to control what others were saying about her during the height of her fame, but “I can control my weight”.

She admitted she tried to hide her condition after the Spice Girls split and got “very good at lying”. Victoria said: “It’s been a lot, and that’s hard. I had no control over what was being written about me, the pictures being taken, and I suppose I wanted to control that.

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“I could control it with the clothing, I could control it with my weight and I was controlling it in an extremely unhealthy way. When you have an eating disorder you become very good at lying and I was never honest about it with my parents.”

She added that it affected her “constantly” and has now been with her for her entire life. “I never talked about it publicly. It really affects you when you’re being told constantly that you’re not good enough and I suppose that’s been with me my whole life.”

The admission was made during an episode called Kill The Wag. In it, Victoria shared that she lost her identity whilst trying to rebrand herself as a fashion designer and not a Spice Girl or the wife of footballer David Beckham. She explained how she got a boob job, wore hair extensions and branded that era the “attention-seeking” years.

But within two years, she had successfully turned things around and gotten her career as a fashion designer off the ground. She also got the boob job reversed. “i buried those boobs in Baden-Baden!” she joked.

In another scene, Victoria’s parents, Jackie and Tony Adams said her eating disorder stemmed from bad experiences at theatre school. Her mother recalled, “If you’re told you’re overweight, you’d be hurt” sharing how Victoria was called fat by her classmates and pushed to the back of the stage.

“It’s a silly thing to say to a young person – ‘you’re fat’,” she added. Tony continued: “Obviously it would upset her.” Victoria then revealed how she begged her parents to let her come home because the other children were so mean.

Victoria, whose eldest son Brooklyn has aspirations of a successful chef career, now eats healthily. A friend explained why Victoria decided to share her experiences with an eating disorder on the documentary: “Victoria wanted to be honest and upfront in this documentary — she didn’t want to shy away from a subject she knows still, to this day, obsesses people.

“In her younger years, before she found the gym and true happiness with her career and family, she was incredibly rigid with her food, and borderline anorexic. She largely replaced solid food with liquids and would also run quite obsessively. She was also told to lose weight by Spice Girls management and that saw her spiral.”

They added: “Her decision to speak about it now shows just how far she has come — she’s an incredible role model to both her kids and women generally. Victoria hopes that by being honest with her difficulties, she can help others experiencing similar problems.”

For help and support on eating disorders contact Beat Eating Disorders on 0808 801 0677.

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Peter Crouch and Jamie Carragher to host Global Football Industry Awards

Former Liverpool FC teammates Peter Crouch and Jamie Carragher will co-host the Global Football Industry Awards next month

They excelled on the pitch together and have since gone on to become beloved broadcasters, and now Peter Crouch and Jamie Carragher are teaming up once again.

The former Liverpool FC players, who now delight fans with their podcasts and TV appearances, will reunite to host the inagural Global Football Industry Awards together next month.

Scheduled for Thursday 20 November 2025 in London, the ceremony will unite football’s most powerful business figures, trailblazers, and pioneers for an evening honouring the unrecognised champions propelling the sport’s transformation across the globe.

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Carragher, who also assisted in establishing the occasion, alongside Crouch will spearhead the night’s festivities, showcasing the brands, institutions, and personalities revolutionising football through daring concepts, meaningful initiatives, and commercial breakthroughs.

“Football is so much more than what happens on the pitch – it’s built by people, partnerships, and ideas that often go unseen,” said Jamie Carragher.

“It’s time those efforts got the recognition they deserve. I’m looking forward to hosting the event and reuniting with Crouchy.”

In contrast to conventional football award ceremonies, the Global Football Industry Awards will shine a light on excellence beyond the pitch – across sectors including sponsorship, marketing, sustainability, grassroots development, diversity and inclusion, and investment in women’s football.

The Global Football Industry Awards will bring together football icons, industry leaders, emerging disruptors and community trailblazers from around the world.

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A panel of respected judges, comprising experts and figures from across the game, will select the winners.

Poised to become a significant new event in the football calendar, the Global Football Industry Awards will celebrate the work that is shaping the future of the sport, with a focus on innovation, inclusion, and impact.