JLS singer Aston Merrygold has shared his gratitude towards the doctors, nurses and hospital staff as he updated fans on his condition after undergoing surgery
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Aston Merrygold has shared an update with fans(Image: Instagram)
Aston Merrygold posed in his hospital bed as he gave an update on his condition with fans.
The 37 year old JLS singer revealed earlier this week he needed to have an operation following a serious injury that he sustained during an accident. Aston has now gone under the knife and shared an update with fans as he posed with his thumbs up while sporting a hospital gown and laying in a bed.
Other snaps in the Instagram share show Aston with his wife Sarah and their children Grayson, Macauley and Riley. In the caption he told fans: “Done, done & done! Thanks for all the love and support everyone.. Thankfully everything went to plan in surgery Shout out to the incredible Dr’s, nurses and staff at the hospital!! I’m home with my favourites so the rest and recovery starts now”.
He was met with well-wishes from fans as one wrote: “Glad it all went okay enjoy some much deserved R&R now”, while his bandmate Marvin Humes wrote: “My guy! Over the moon everything went well”.
“Rest well & praying for a speedy recovery for you!,” a third added. Shortly before the operation, Aston shared a photo of himself looking in high spirits as he stood wearing a hospital gown while sporting crutches. “Here we go,” he wrote as he shared the image on Instagram.
Last week, Aston revealed he required surgery on his injured ankle. “So, I had a bit of an accident on an injury and basically it requires surgery. So they’ve given me these really cool crutches,” he said on TikTok.
Despite the painful injury, which he also showed off on a post on his TikTok showing his swollen ankle, Aston continued to perform with his band while on crutches. He joked, however, that backflips were “on hold” for the meantime as he sported a black denim jacket with the words ‘Backflips on hold’ bedazzled on the back.
Aston has been touring with his band, which kicked off in Glasgow at the Hydro Arena. He revealed at the first gig of the group’s comeback tour that he had been advised by his team to postpone, the Daily Mail reports, but said there was ‘no way’ he could let his fans down. Aston also reportedly praised his bandmates for their support as he battles with the injury.
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The group, which is comprised of Oritsé Williams, 38, JB Gill, 38, Aston and Marvin Humes, 40, first formed in 2007 before they auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 and gained huge popularity. They were the show’s runners-up of that year, missing out on the top spot to Alexandra Burke, but still landed a record deal in 2009.
The continued to perform before announcing their decision to split in 2013. However, they reunited this year to perform a limited amount of shows across the UK.
Pretty Little Liars actress Shay Mitchell has faced a backlash after she launched a beauty brand aimed at children aged three and above
With 35 million Instagram followers, Shay Mitchell’s latest business venture was likely to be a huge success. However, her latest project – a beauty brand for toddlers – has been hit with fierce criticism.
A Hollywood star with a lot of influence, Pretty Little Liars actress Shay – who played Emily in the mystery thriller drama series – and Esther Song have created rini, a beauty brand they claim marries gentle skin care and play for children aged three and above.
A mum herself, Shay, 38, – who has daughters Atlas Noa, six, and Rome, three – says she was inspired to create her new range by her children’s constant requests to be involved in her beauty routine. When she wore face masks, they’d ask what it was and beg to use it and she would hand them deodorant with a lid on just so they could be part of her routine.
It was from here that rini was born – with Shay adamant she wants her kids to enjoy skincare like she does to “create healthy habits and have that self-care time”. They write on their website: “Our mission is simple: to nurture healthy habits and spark confidence”.
READ MORE: ‘I’m a beauty editor – these are the best make-up and skincare brands for teenagers’
The new brand sells everyday facial sheet masks with Vitamin E made to look like pandas, puppies and unicorns. Made with 93.5% natural ingredients, they contain Glycerin, Beta-Glucan and Allantoin to hydrate, strength and soothe and also feature White Tremella Mushrooms, which holds up to 500 times its weight in water to hydrate and calm the skin.
The second range of products are hydrogel masks, which include Vitamin B12, Glycerin & Red Algae Extract. The hydrogel mask is also infused with Vitamin B12 and costs £6 each, marketed for daily use. The after sun mask is infused with Aloe Vera and Chamomile as well as Wild Yam, which is said to “calm, heal, and hydrate delicate skin in harmony”.
The products might have been approved by dermatologists and clinically tested in the US, but the controversial brand has not sat well with celebrities and fans alike. Vicky Pattison – Strictly Come Dancing star – branded it all a “step too far”.
Speaking on a recent podcast she said, “I think it’s manipulative to position it as self care for kids. For me, an hour in the bath at the end of a busy day with a face mask on, that is my self care, but why does a three-year-old need that self care? They don’t. Their lives are, as they should be, care free.”
She says parents should be the one to shield their kids from these expectations. Vicky added: “It’s up to the parents to set those boundaries and to say, ‘This is something for when you’re older. It’s just for me now. I think we’re blurring the lines there. I personally think it’s all a little bit dark and a bit of a shame. Let kids be kids.”
This is a view shared by many people online, who have called the new business venture “tone deaf” and “harming”. Dr Ranj Singh – a doctor who has regularly appeared on This Morning – dubbed the sheet and hydrogels masks an “awful idea”.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror about the brand’s products, he says: “Children and young people have a generally healthy, developing and sensitive skin barrier. So when it comes to any skincare, as a general rule, less is more.
“Unless they have specific medical needs, they simply don’t need active skin products – simple washes and moisturisers (if necessary) are absolutely fine for the vast majority. And any reputable Dermatologist would agree with this. I’d like to think that most of these brands are genuinely looking out for children’s bests interests, but we also need to remember that they are businesses.”
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He fears products like these can have a wider impact on children into the future and said: “We have to be mindful that, even with the best intentions in the world, these products may be sending the wrong message to young people from an early age: that somehow their skin is not good enough, that they have to obsess over their appearance, or that they need these products to look or feel good.
“This is simply not the case – and we must make clear that behaviour adults might show are not always applicable to children. When it comes to kids’ skin, the emphasis should be on looking after yourself from the inside – not what the world sees or what you might do on the outside.”
READ MORE: Save £40 on beauty tool Vogue Williams wanted to smuggle into I’m A Celeb jungle
After mixed reviews for her Netflix Christmas episode of With Love, the Duchess of Sussex is struggling to match Kate’s magic, an expert tells us
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Meghan wants to emulate Kate’s magic, a royal expert claims(Image: Getty Images)
The Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales have both kicked off the Christmas season in style, and a royal expert tells the Mirror the rivalry between the pair is still alive and well. Last week, Meghan delivered the festive special of her Meghan, With Love Netflix series just a few days before Kate hosted her star-studded Together at Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams says the two events could not have been more different and he suspects Meghan, 44, may now retire her lifestyle show altogether. “Meghan is secretly battling to emulate some of the magic that Kate clearly creates, but it is not working,” he told us.
READ MORE: Stacey Solomon praises ‘incredible’ under-£90 Shark vac-mop for cleaning up after kids and pets
He continued, “She displayed almost relentless positivity, which actually becomes weary to watch. It seems that she’d like to be a sort of Californian Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way, and therefore her show just does not have the same level of substance as Kate’s carol concert.”
The format of Meghan’s Holiday Celebration followed her earlier shows, with cooking demonstrations, DIY tutorials for wreath making, the odd cameo from husband Prince Harry and a few celebrity friends such as tennis ace Naomi Osaka.
The show landed in Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the UK within 24 hours of airing, but critics were less than impressed. The mostly one or two-star reviews in British newspapers described it as “bizarre” and one reviewer said it was “quite mad and a little bit sad”.
Not everyone agreed though, and many viewers took to social media to show their support. Writing on X, one said it “lifted their spirits” and another wrote they loved the “charming show”.
However, Richard suspects it is the last we’ll see of the series, and Meghan and Harry will have to bring something big to the table if they want to keep Netflix on side.
“The trouble is that in the position she is in with their downgraded Netflix deal, which isn’t an unusual position to be in, she needed a big name,” he told us. “While Naomi Osaka is very big in her field, there will be many people who didn’t know who she was. So if viewers are Googling the names of her guests, it’s not looking particularly good for their future with Netflix, so this may well be the last episode we get of the series.”
The episode also added to the list of so-called diary clashes between the Sussexes and the royal family, airing on the same day as King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted the German state visit, and a few hours after Kate released a personal letter to guests attending the carol concert.
In it, Kate talked about Christmas being a time that “speaks of love taking form in the simplest most human ways” and “invites us to remember the power of reaching out to one another with generosity of heart, understanding and hope”.
Her service included readings by Prince William and Titanic actress Kate Winslet, along with musical performances by Katie Melua and Griff.
Richard says there is a widespread belief that Meghan still feels “rivalry” with Kate, 43, which dates back to their time as the Fab Four with princes Harry and William.
The result, he claims, has been a number of diary clashes over the years, including Megxit being announced on the eve of Kate’s 38th birthday in 2020, and Harry publishing the paperback of his explosive memoir Spare while his father and mother-in-law were on a royal tour of Australia.
“If we look at the timings of many of the things the Sussexes have done, there is often a clash with William and Kate,” Richard said. “Recently, for example, there was Harry’s visit to Canada at the same time as William’s Earthshot trip.
“Harry reportedly made an offer to share diaries earlier this year to avoid clashes, but if the offer was accepted, nothing appears to have come from it.”
A day after Meghan’s show aired, there were reports that her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, was in intensive care in a hospital in the Philippines, where he lives.
The 81-year-old has battled poor health for some years, and his son Thomas Jr told a newspaper last week he was “fighting for his life” after emergency surgery. Meghan’s dad is also reported to have had a leg amputated.
While Meghan’s festive special was likely filmed months ago, Robert says the unfortunate timing of its release has done her no favours.
“It is a decidedly dysfunctional situation to have Meghan on television talking about love and family while her father is said to be fighting for his life in hospital,” he said.
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“I don’t imagine it has been received in the way Meghan would have hoped, so she and Harry will need to think very carefully about what they do next.”
Kerry Katona is prepared to continue creating saucy content for her OnlyFans account ‘until she’s 101’, as she reveals one famous face ready to join the adult-only platform at almost 70
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Kerry Katona couldn’t be prouder of her OnlyFans career(Image: kerrykatona7/instagram)
Kerry Katona has revealed proudly in her latest exclusive OK! column that she is ready to continue creating OnlyFans content well into retirement age.
The singer and TV personality, 45, who became an OnlyFans creator in 2020, discussed her booming business acumen as she teased a famous senior citizen could be about to join her on the adult content platform.
And while, laughing, she admits that it’s not something she would ever want her kids doing, she insists defiantly that she is a “grown-up – and it’s my choice”.
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And as she tells the Mirror, she teased some jaw-dropping news that will be coming to light very soon about a certain well-known personality getting on board with it, too.
“I actually have some very interesting news that is gonna be coming out very soon about a certain celebrity pushing 70 who wants to do OnlyFans.
Aa for her own journey on the controversial adult-only content platform, she admits, things are going better than ever. “My OnlyFans is going strong – in fact, I’ve got a discount there at the minute. Treat yourselves!”
For Kerry, she explains – it’s all about female empowerment, and ignoring the haters: “For me, this is all about women celebrating themselves and their sexuality without shame.
“This is not just about young people. I get that some have a bad opinion about it – but I’m a grown-up and it’s my choice. Would I want my kids to do it? Absolutely not, haha!”
As she opened up about her delight that Mary Poppins star Dick Van Dyke is turning 100 on December 13, the devoted mum-of-five confessed that she has hopes to live to a ripe old age – and still be making content.
“I’m gonna get to 101. I’m going to be in my rocking chair, looking as glamorous as anything, still doing Only Fans, putting my big fat fingers up to all the women who hate me!”
Opening up candidly in her column back in November 2023, the former Atomic Kitten star celebrated going into her fourth year on the platform – admitting that it had saved her from huge financial difficulties.
She said at the time, “Next year will be my fourth year on OnlyFans and I’m still absolutely loving it. I’ve made a lot of money from it and it really saved me from financial ruin when I joined during lockdown. I’m eternally grateful.
“I was so nervous when I joined – I felt sick and thought my career would be over. But these days it’s so much more normalised and I’ve been able to build so many businesses from it. I’m living my life and doing what I want to do.
Peter Andre has has offered his parenting advice to Molly-Mae after the Love Island star admitted she had been left “in tears” after trying to navigate tantrums
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Peter Andre has offered his parenting advice to Molly-Mae in his new! magazine column(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Peter Andre has offered his parenting advice to Molly-Mae. The former Love Island star, 26, who has two-year-old Bambi with Tommy Fury, recently spoke out about her frustration that the little one hand entered the terrible twos, and now, the dad-of-five has given her his support.
Peter, who has Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, with ex-wife Katie Price, as well as Millie, 11, Theo, nine, and 20-month-old Belle with wife Emily, has opened up about the tricky times a parent often endures in those early years in his new! magazine column this week.
Reacting to the situation, he said: “Molly-Mae Hague recently said she’s been left in tears over daughter Bambi’s behaviour now she’s in the terrible twos. Belle’s 20 months now, and we’re seeing little tantrums.
READ MORE: Princess Andre teases ‘more candid’ second season of her hit ITV reality showREAD MORE: Molly-Mae updates on daughter Bambi after rushing her and Tommy Fury to hospital
“As long as you’re bringing them up the way you think is correct, they’ll go through these stages – and then it will pass. I remember Theo was really, really difficult until he was about four years old – now he’s nine, he’s the most wonderful, adorable, loving child you could ever meet!”
Just days after Molly admitted things were “hanging by a thread” as she looked after Bambi and boyfriend, Tommy, the mum-of-one explained: “My mum’s getting picked up shortly – she’s been staying with us for the week to help out with the small child.” To this, Debbie replied: “Now I need to go home and decompress.”
Opening up about her granddaughter’s behaviour, Debbie continued: “She’s been lovely…she’s been interesting.” However, she then admitted: “She’s been really challenging. She’s trying to assert her dominance as a not even three-year-old. “She thinks she rules the roost.” To this, ‘Ultimate Influencer’ Molly confirmed: “Because she does.”
Saying she thought she had turned a corner as a parent after previously admitting she didn’t feel she was cut out for motherhood, Molly continued: “It was just quite frustrating, I don’t like talking about it too much, but I felt like I’d massively turned a big corner with her and I was really, really feeling great about motherhood.
“I was like, ‘yeah, I’m really feeling it, I can do this, not a problem, I’ve come through my tricky patch’ and then the last two weekends have just completely humbled me and knocked me to the floor.”
Molly then said she’d been on a “emotional rollercoaster” with Bambi, and admitted: “She’s literally had me in tears for two consecutive weekends now, which has not been fun.”
It comes as Molly admitted she was ‘struggling to keep things together’ after Bambi and Tommy both became unwell.
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Explaining that she had taken them to hospital on Monday, after Bambi had been ‘shaking and crying’ in her sleep, she shared: “My nails summarise how this week has gone…hanging on by a thread.”
Discussing the traumatic time, she continued: “I did say that Bambi wasn’t well but we’ve been in the hospital this morning. About nine days ago, Tommy got what we thought was food poisoning, or a sickness bug, we’re really not sure, and we’re nine days in now and it hasn’t gone away and basically last night at 3 in the morning, he was up, TMI, but his soul was leaving his body in that toilet.
Former EastEnders icon Martine McCutcheon admits she’s not slowing down as she approaches turning 50 next year; instead, the star is over the moon about her age
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Martine McCutcheon refuses to apologise amid fallout with mum as she finds peace(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for SHEIN)
She stole every scene in EastEnders, topped the charts with her debut album, won an Olivier Award for her West End performance in My Fair Lady and headlined everyone’s favourite Christmas movie. Now, Love, Actually star Martine McCutcheon is gearing up for a new challenge – turning 50.
Alongside her enormous success, Martine has also endured her fair share of hardship. Last year, the mum-of-one announced her separation from Jack McManus after 12 years of marriage, in 2022, her beloved brother LJ passed away aged just 31, and she’s estranged from her mother Jenny. But with Christmas coming up fast and a new year on the horizon, Martine is looking forwards, not backwards.
“You can think about the things you didn’t do or haven’t done yet and let that frighten you. But I’m just thrilled that I’m fit, well, happy and I have my little boy,” she says. Icons like Oprah Winfrey, Kim Cattrall and Brené Brown have inspired Martine to embrace getting older, to feel confident in herself and to set boundaries.
“These trailblazing women have really changed the course and the tone of what 50 is for women,” she says. “They are not just speaking it, they’re living it.” Without the women who’ve gone before her, Martine believes she would have feared her landmark birthday next May. “I would have been quite scared,” she admits. “That judgmental little gremlin on my shoulder could have been going, ‘What about this? What about that?’ But I actually think because of the women who have been brave enough to 100% unapologetically be themselves, I feel less judgmental of myself.
“It’s such an exciting and liberating time, more than ever for a 50-year-old woman, to be working, living, socialising, loving and all of these things. I just feel really lucky that I’m in this time because even 20 years ago, it was so different. I feel excited about this next chapter because I know myself so much more. And I’m so not sorry for my own opinions, my own voice, my own limitations and inally being able to say, always with the most respect, ‘No, no, no.’”
Martine wants her sixth decade to be all about having fun after a recent conversation with a pal made her realise she doesn’t have a single hobby, having devoted her life to work, motherhood and other people. “I don’t feel I’ve ever really had enough time to exhale and enjoy the simple things,” she says. “I just want to have fun. I want to find out, away from career and family, what just brings me fun.”
One area Martine is keen to explore in 2026 is her spirituality. Since childhood, she’s always been known among her friends for her healing powers, and now she wants to educate herself about the power of crystals. “It’s crazy but I really want to learn about crystals. I’m not trained as a Reiki practitioner, but ever since I was a little girl I just can feel where people are holding blockages in their body,” she says. “So maybe I’d like to explore that more as well.”
Turning 50 will be a milestone, but Martine embraces change. Before this, the biggest change that had happened to her was becoming a mother to her son Rafferty, 10, whose arrival brought her peace after years of not feeling enough. “Growing up and being in the industry from such a young age, I was quite judgmental of myself and hard on myself. When I had my son I realised that you don’t have to earn love. You don’t have to justify any reason for doing anything. You’re loved just because you are. You’re enough exactly as you are. Always were, always have been.”
The emotional outpouring of love Martine felt brought her a contentment she hadn’t felt before. She explains, “When I held him in my arms the first time I looked at him, I finally got it. It was so potent and so factually true and it wasn’t to be argued with. It gave me a lot of peace and a lot of completeness.”
Now Martine is looking forward to spending Christmas with Rafferty and their friends and family. “Until you live it yourself you can’t truly realise how much you get to embody the magic and the innocence that is there when you share Christmas with children,” she says. “The hope and the big dreams rub off, it’s contagious. You’ve got this little bundle of joy that you just love so much and it’s just an absolute pleasure and it’s so rewarding. It’s true love.”
Thanks to her role alongside Hugh Grant in the very Christmassy Love, Actually, Martine has become a part of all our Christmases, appearing on screens all over the festive season. Now she’s recreated one of the most iconic scenes from the movie by reuniting loved ones ahead of Christmas at the airport with the help of Costa Coffee.
“For me, it was actually probably the most touching part of Love, Actually,” she says. “You can see the emotion oozing out of people when they’re connecting with loved ones again. It’s really important at Christmas to be thankful for the people that you love and that love you, and to connect with those people as much as you can.”
It’s 22 years since Love, Actually was released but for Martine it’s the gift that keeps on giving. “It was my dream, and that dream came true,” she says. “It’s a reminder that when you get jaded, when you get cynical, dreams can come true.” Martine was just 18 when she shot to fame in EastEnders as Tiffany Raymond. When she was killed off on New Year’s Eve in 1998, 12 million viewers tuned in. For Martine, her soap experience was exhilarating.
“It was rock’n’roll,” she says. “It was the 90s. The whole country was invested in things at the same time in their millions. It was so powerful.” EastEnders is filmed at Elstree Studios in North London, as was Top Of The Pops in the late 90s. It meant the young EastEnders cast could hang out with pop stars and Martine can’t shake the image of Patsy Palmer on a golf buggy while Liam Gallagher hitched a ride behind.
“One minute we’d be filming and the next minute I’d see Patsy, off on a golf buggy with Liam Gallagher hanging off the back,” she says. “It was just so much fun. It was a really fun, youthful, innocent time in a way.” After Tiffany was run over by Frank Butcher in the soap, fans saw her die in the road. But even an on-screen death doesn’t stop EastEnders bringing beloved characters back. This Christmas Pat Butcher will return as a ghost for the second time. So would Martine ever resurrect Tiffany?
“I love to play great, sweet, endearing characters, snooty, sassy little vixens like Tiffany,” she says. “If there was a flashback or a memory or whatever, and there was a way to know more and understand Tiffany more now, then I would be definitely, always be up for it. I mean, what an amazing character she was.”
Martine McCutcheon partnered with Costa Coffee to recreate the beloved Love, Actually airport scene, celebrating Christmas reunions. With Costa Club, every festive catch-up comes with a little extra magic.
