During the annual Trooping the Colour celebrations in 2022, a lip-reading expert spotted the young royal using an adorable moniker for his mother Princess Kate
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Each year, the Royal Family get together to mark the monarch’s official birthday celebrations at Trooping the Colour. The annual event culminates in an appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to see the RAF flypast, and watching the family excitedly interact with one another amid the aerial show has long been a favourite among royal fans.
While King Charles and other senior royals are front and centre for the balcony appearance, they are joined by the youngsters of the Royal Family, namely Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, giving fans a chance to catch a glimpse of the next generation of royals.
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The three children of the Prince and Princess of Wales usually delight crowds with cheeky antics and sweet interactions when on the Palace balcony, with one particularly memorable moment coming from the 2022 Trooping the Colour celebrations.
Back in 2022 when Trooping the Colour was part of the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Prince George was spotted using an adorable nickname for his mother Princess Kate, which was quickly picked up by a lip reader.
As George travelled in a carriage to Horse Guards Parade with his mum Kate, he had been waving to the crowds – looking very dapper in his suit and tie – before turning to Kate and calling her “Momma”.
The use of sweet nicknames goes both ways between the mother and son, with Kate bestowing on her eldest child and future King a distinctly British moniker: PG tips. The famous British tea company also lines up with the second-in-line to the throne’s initials of Prince George, and the young royal is said to also sometimes have this nickname shortened even further to simply ‘Tips’.
The Royal Family is reported to use a wide variety of nicknames for one another, and the late Prince Philip had one very similar to George’s sweet nickname, with those in his inner circle referring to him as ‘P.P.’ in a nod to his initials.
A royal source speaking to The Sun explained that there is a reason the royals use so many nicknames for one another, as they said: “The royals are not very good at communicating with one another so this is one way around it. Nicknames are a way of taking the family tension out of things.”
“They can also be a rather childlike family. They love to play games and they give each other silly presents. I think it’s because they have to be so earnest in their public lives.”
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George is not the only one of the Wales children to have a sweet nickname. Princess Charlotte is often referred to as ‘Lottie’ by both her family and her classmates, while Charlotte’s parents also refer to her as ‘Mignonette,’ a French term meaning “delicate” or “cute”, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl.
Young Prince Louis also has an adorable nickname that Kate let slip during a rare engagement with her children in 2023. Taking part in the Big Help Out at the 3rd Upton Scouts Hut in Slough, the three Wales siblings got to toast some marshmallows over a campfire, which they then turned into s’mores. And as she encouraged Louis to get rid of his stick, Kate revealed her sweet nickname for her youngest, as she said: “Pop that on the fire Lou-bugs.”
The S Club Juniors party came to an end in 2004 when Frankie Sandford, Rochelle Wiseman, Daisy Evans, Jay Asforis, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, Stacey McClean, and Calvin Goldspink called it a day. But where are they all now?
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It’s been more than 20 years since S Club Juniors – later known as S Club 8 – decided to go their separate ways. The young teeny boppers were originally formed in 2001 to support S Club 7 – but they found their own fame, going on to release multiple top-10 hits in the UK, including One Step Closer, and Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride. They even got their own TV show about their fictional exploits, called I Dream.
The eight-member lineup came together through the CBBC show S Club Search, with the chosen ones beating thousands of hopeful applicants. And, as a result, Frankie Sandford (now Bridge), Rochelle Wiseman (now Humes), Daisy Evans, Jay Asforis, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, Stacey McClean, and Calvin Goldspink, all became household names.
But all good things must come to an end. The band – who changed their name to S Club 8 in 2003 to reflect them growing older – announced their split in 2004. But what has happened to the members since then? From footballer wives, to a major West End star, and a connection to Taylor Swift, let’s take a closer look at where they are now…
Rochelle Humes
While some members decided to step away from the spotlight, Rochelle has continued to live her life in the public eye. When S Club 8 disbanded in 2004, Rochelle had a stint hosting the BBC children’s TV programme Smile – her first presenting role – before joining top girl group The Saturdays, alongside Una Healy, Mollie King, Vanessa White, and fellow former S Club 8 member Frankie Bridge, in 2007. The girls enjoyed major success, selling millions of records and achieving multi-platinum status with hits like the #1 single “What About Us” and Platinum-certified albums like Chasing Lights.
When the band separated in 2014, Rochelle turned her attention to presenting, and has gone on to co-present shows including Ninja Warrior UK and The Hit List, as well as numerous appearances on This Morning, Loose Women and Lorraine.
Her other projects include the release of her first clothing range for Very in June 2014, and the publication of her first children’s book The Mega Magic Hair Swap in 2019. In February 2020, she launched her own baby skin and haircare brand, My Little Coco.
In March 2010, Rochelle started dating fellow pop star Marvin Humes from the band JLS. They got engaged on 31 December 2011 and were married on 27 July 2012 at Blenheim Palace. Rochelle, who is now professionally known by her married name, and Marvin share three children together: daughters Alaia-Mai (born 2013), Valentina (born 2017), and son Blake (born 2020).
Throughout the years, Rochelle has managed to maintain a squeaky clean reputation. But just recently she has been at the centre of allegations of a feud with Myleene Klass. It came after Myleene publicly alleged on a podcast that her ex-husband, Graham Quinn, had cheated on her with a famous person at her own birthday party in 2011.
Tensions reportedly arose because both Rochelle and Marvin have continued their friendship with Graham, who previously managed JLS, and it was claimed that Rochelle had given Graham a place to stay when he split from Myleene.
Then in August 2025, Rochelle posted a 13th-anniversary photo dump on Instagram that included a picture of Graham – widely interpreted as a “passive-aggressive” move and a slight against Myleene.
Frankie Bridge
Frankie’s post-S Club career mirrors that of Rochelle. The two women – who knew each other before joining the young band – both continued their chart-topping success in The Saturdays until the group’s split in 2014.
Since then, Frankie has made numerous TV appearances. She has been a regular panellist on Loose Women since 2021, and appeared in the 12th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 – Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev were announced as the winners while Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff, and Frankie and her partner Kevin Clifton were the runners-up.
In 2021, Frankie competed in the 21st series of I’m A Celebrity, – due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the series was filmed at Gwrych Castle in Wales – coming in third place behind Danny Miller and Simon Gregson. And in 2023, the star made her West End debut, joining the cast of Danny Robins’ play 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Apollo Theatre; she took over the role of Lauren from Sophia Bush and performed in the production until its close on 17 September 2023.
Since December 2010, Frankie has been in a relationship with former footballer Wayne Bridge. The couple announced their engagement in April 2013 and were married the following year at Woburn Abbey. The couple are proud parents to two boys, Parker, 12, and Carter, 11. Prior to finding love with Wayne, Frankie dated McFly musician Dougie Poynter from 2008 to 2010.
Frankie has been open about her mental health struggles. In 2011, she had to take time out of her work commitments with the Saturdays due to an “illness”, which was incorrectly speculated to be due to alcohol and drugs. As a result, she decided to speak out about her battles and went on to be named an ambassador for charity Mind.
Interestingly, Frankie is also rumoured to have a long-standing tension with Myleene Klass – just like Rochelle. The trio used to be very close, with Loose Women hosts Myleene and Frankie attending fellow ITV star Rochelle’s hen do in 2012. But issues again arose as a result of Myeleen’s ex-husband; Graham Quinn served as the bodyguard and tour manager for The Saturdays and, as a result, Frankie and Rochelle became close friends with him.
When Myleene and Graham split in 2012, Myleene reportedly felt that Frankie and Rochelle “sided” with Graham, and a confrontation reportedly occurred at the 2013 Glamour Awards after Myleene felt ‘blanked’ by Frankie. The ladies have since largely avoided each other, However, due to a staff shortage around Christmas 2025, Myleene and Frankie ended up on the same Loose Women panel – resulting in an ‘awkward’ episode with ‘minimal interaction’.
Aaron Renfree
Aaron was the oldest member of S Club 8 and starred in I Dream but did not appear in every episode because he was studying for his GCSEs at the time of filming. After S Club 8 split in 2004, he went back to college and trained at Laine Theatre Arts where he graduated with a National Diploma in Musical Theatre.
Since then, Aaron has carved out a successful career as a top professional dancer choreographer, who has worked with the likes of Taylor Swift, Little Mix, Kylie Minogue, and Take That. He has also had an impressive West End career, appearing in the likes of Flashdance: The Musical and We Will Rock You.
Aaron is openly gay, and has taken part in the NoH8 campaign, whose mission is to promote LGBTQ marriage, gender and human equality.
Jay Asforis
Since the end of S Club Juniors in 2004, Jay has established himself in a major way in the world of musical theatre. The star – who now goes by the professional name Jay Perry – made his debut in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind in 1999- 2000, and since then has appeared in Motown: The Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical, Hairspray, and Kiss Me, Kate. He is currently starring in the hit show Hamilton, appearing as former US President Aaron Burr.
Jay also identifies as gay and has talked about struggling with his sexuality while in S Club 8.
Stacey Franks
Stacey – known as Stacey McClean in S Club Juniors – continued with her passion for music following the band’s split. She auditioned as a solo artist on The X Factor in 2009, making it as far as Judges’ Houses in Dubai, but wasn’t chosen by Dannii Minogue to progress further to the live shows.
The following year, Stacey starred in G*Mania, a collection of former X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and Last Choir Standing favourites, who toured the UK for six months. She is also reported to have worked as a receptionist at the UK radio station talkSPORT, while continuing to pursue her singing career in her spare time.
In June 2017, two years after a proposal on the rooftop of a hotel in Phuket, Stacey tied the knot with ex-professional footballer Fraser Franks, and in 2019 they welcomed their daughter, Nellie. In November 2023, however, Stacey announced the couple’s split.
In a message shared on Instagram alongside a photo of their little girl, she wrote in part: “Fraser and I, after 10 wonderful years together have made the difficult decision to amicably separate. As many of you know, when children are involved, decisions such as these are not taken lightly. We walk away with nothing but love for each other and the only thing that matters to us is Nellie, for without each-other we wouldn’t have been blessed with her.”
According to reports at the time, Stacey – who previously dated Lawson guitarist Ryan Fletcher – and Fraser’s wedding day was a raucous affair, with a ‘drunk’ Stacey throwing wedding cake ‘at Fraser’s face’ which caused a ‘bust-up’ as his mum had made it.
A source told MailOnline: “After she threw the cake in her husband’s face, they were spotted in the garden arguing with representatives of both families acting as peacekeepers. The night ended for Stacey when she got a taxi to a hotel, by herself at 20:30. Fraser continued to enjoy the evening until the early hours…”
Calvin Goldspink
After S Club 8 ended, Calvin stayed in front of the camera, appearing in the only season of Life is Wild for the CW network in 2007. Inspired by the British drama Wild at Heart, the show followed a New York veterinarian who moves his second wife and their two sets of children to a South African game reserve run by his former father-in-law.
It’s by no means his only small screen appearance; Calvin later starred in the 2011 US TV movie William and Kate: Let Love Rule, playing the Princess’ brother, James Middleton.
The star has also stuck with music; his song ‘Don’t Fail Me’ has featured on various adverts for shows such as Jersey Shore and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, and it also featured on Love Is Blind season 1 episode 9. Calvin has further worked at The Peppermint Club in Los Angeles as a talent booker, and founded Breaking Sound, a music company helping support emerging artists internationally.In 2020, he released a song called “The Cold”.
The star married designer Melissa Callabero in 2015 and they became parents for the first time to baby Aya in 2020.
Daisy Shelvey
Daisy – then Daisy Evans – also continued with her love of music when S Club 8 disbanded in 2004. She joined a five-piece UK female group called From Above, and the future looked bright. The band were signed by Beyonce’s dad, Matthew Knowles and even landed a reality TV show on MTV. But their time together was short-lived.
From Above performed all over the world together and eventually entered the X-Factor, a controversial move since many fans argued the show should be for undiscovered talent only. Regardless, From Above didn’t make it past the bootcamp stage and disbanded shortly afterwards.
In 2013, Daisy became engaged to footballer Jonjo Shelvey, and they went on to marry in June 2015. The couple’s extravagant wedding ceremony included a stand-up comedy performance by Jimmy Carr. Daisy and Jonjo are parents to three children – daughters Lola and Alba, and a son called Jorgio.
Daisy has been quick to defend her husband over the years, and in February 2015 became embroiled in a Twitter spat. She criticised her husband’s then-footballer manager Gary Monk after Jonjo was subbed off, “What an absolute load of s***. Ain’t got a f*****g clue.”
Supporters of Swansea, the team he played for at the time, advised Daisy that her comments wouldn’t help the team as a whole. She promptly hit back at them, writing: “I’m entitled to have an opinion and if I want to tweet it, I will!”
The former Newcastle United and Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has opened up on his addiction to sleeping pills. The 33-year-old, who is now at United Arab Emirates side Arabian Falcons, revealed the habit ruined his relationship with his three children.
The addiction started when Shelvey moved to Turkey and signed for Caykur Rizespor in September 2023. He lived on his own in Rize, a small coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region, leaving his three children and wife behind in England.
“I went to Turkey for 18 months and lived by myself and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Shelvey told the Under The Cosh podcast.
“I ended up becoming addicted to sleeping tablets because I’d just got home from training and to pass time. I’d think, ‘what am I going to do now?’
“I was in a city that was a Muslim-orientated city. There were like three restaurants. To pass time I’d just end up taking three or four sleeping tablets and I’d pass out until the next morning for training.”
He said: “I’d get home at one, half one. Three o’clock I’d have a bit of food, and that’d be my last meal. And then I’d take three or four sleeping tablets and then wake up about 12 o’clock at night, pop three or four more.
“And then wake up for training the next day. To be honest, it destroyed my relationship with my kids. I was never present. This is the first time I have spoken about it and I was lucky that my missus is such a good woman that she kicked it out of me.”
Daisy now works as a make-up artist, sharing her success on Instagram under the handle @daisyshelvey_mua .
Hannah Richings
Hannah was the youngest member of S Club 8, being just 11 when she joined and the only member that was out of the band’s initial intended age range.
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She didn’t stick around in showbiz and has left the entertainment industry entirely. After spending time working for Barclays Bank, she established her own childminding business, Little Buds.
Gardening expert and Love Your Weekend presenter Alan Titchmarsh has shared the pitfalls of bare-root planting, while revealing the best time to plant trees and shrubs
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Gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh has issued a stark warning to green-fingered enthusiasts about the dangers lurking in bare-root planting. This method involves uprooting a tree or shrub during winter and relocating it to a new spot without any soil clinging to its roots.
Alan points out that this technique was hugely popular throughout the 20th Century, with trees being lifted in autumn and transplanted to fresh locations.
One major advantage of bare-root planting, according to Alan, has been its cost-effectiveness, as these trees demand less upkeep compared to their pot-grown counterparts – a benefit that ultimately reaches the buyer’s pocket.
Yet the former Gardeners’ World host cautions that the method comes with its share of “pitfalls”, particularly for those who can’t resist rushing the process.
In his Country Life column, he wrote: “Too often gardeners are impatient: they want a tree that looks mature as soon as possible and, consequently, they will buy as large a specimen as they can afford.”
He continued: “However, it stands to reason that the larger the tree, the more sustenance it needs to draw up from its roots.
“If the root system has been reduced in size – as it must be when a tree is transplanted from open ground – then a large tree with many branches to support will struggle to establish itself and may take many years to get over the shock.”
Delving deeper into the reasons behind planting bare-root trees ahead of spring, the Gardeners’ World website highlighted November through to March as the ideal window.
They explained: “Planting them in the dormant season means that they should establish well – while the top growth may be brown and twiggy, the roots are busy establishing beneath.”
Regarding which varieties are suitable for bare-root planting during autumn and winter, the website recommended hawthorn, fruit, ornamental, birch, and beech trees.
In a video featured on the site, Alan described young trees as “resilient,” adding: “They are in a way sleeping and if we don’t wake them up too much…they don’t mind being moved at that time of year, even when they’re dug up.”
While Alan has been educating viewers on plant cultivation, he’s also been contemplating his own professional journey. Reflecting on his past, the 76-year-old has revealed how his “dull” childhood provided him with a “good grounding” for both life and career success.
On the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast, he reflected: “I think I grew up with a strong sense of when I had a family, wanting to look after my wife, children in the same way my mum and dad looked after us.
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“Giving us a stable, often quite dull. Sundays were often very boring looking back, you’ve got to go and see granny or go for a walk, which I did like. So it wasn’t spectacular but on reflection, the grounding it gave you as a child was quite good.”
Alan revealed that although his broadcasting career keeps him surrounded by people, he still cherishes his solitude. He remarked: “I need that time on my own, in our business you see a lot of people going around with an entourage, and they’re never alone.
Holly Ramsay and Adam Peaty got married in a lavish ceremony at Bath Abbey on December 27, 2025, with a slew of celebrities attending the big day. But sadly, the Olympic swimmer’s family were not at the event after being ‘disinvited’ following a fall out
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Influencer Holly Ramsay made the freebies count for her wedding to Adam Peaty, cashing in on one of the most talked-about ceremonies of the year. The daughter of Gordon and Tana Ramsay tied the knot with Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty, 32, at Bath Abbey on December 27, 2025, with his parents not present.
Now Adam is set to follow in his 25-year-old wife’s footsteps after signing up to her influencer management agency, Hypesight. And based on Holly’s recent promotions, the future could be lucrative. Prior to the wedding, the agency shared details of Holly’s various bridal campaigns. Her Instagram feed was heaving with high-end collaborations with the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Armani and Charlotte Tilbury.
On September 12, she showcased her wedding collaboration with Victoria’s Secret, featuring several underwear sets, pyjamas, silk dressing gown and luxury veil. The White Stripe Satin Short Pyjamas Set costs £65 on their website, while the Dream Angels Coconut White Lace Push Up Bra costs £50 alone. Meanwhile the Coconut White Satin Bridal Embellished Dressing Gown costs £59, showcasing the word ‘Bride’ on the back in diamantes.
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She also teamed up with premium makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury for her wedding month. Sharing their collaboration in December 3, it featured Holly showcasing some of their holiday gifts.
Their Pillow Talk Dreams Come True set that was featured in the video costs a whopping £320, complete with 14 full sized Pillow Talk products and a luxury vanity case. Holly also gifted her bridesmaids personalised Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream pots engraved with their names. While it’s not clear if the pots were gifted, her collaboration with the beauty mogul has people speculating. The Magic Cream retails for £54 online.
In the month prior to her wedding, Holly managed to bag a luxury collaboration with designer Emporio Armani. She posed for a slew of snaps while on a padel court for their collaboration. Their EA7 collection features polo shirts, trainers, and skorts. Prices range from £100 to over £200 for some of the sneakers.
In the pictures, Holly was spotted sporting their Tennis Pro Mini Skirt, Tennis Pro Top and their Padel Sneakers. The entire outfit was worth around £400. There was also the deal with Vogue for a first-look at the wedding dress. The sum paid for that has not been disclosed. Nisrin Mazlumovic, Director of Campaign Operations at The Influencer Marketing Factory, says the pricing for collaborations can shift significantly when a big event like a wedding is involved.
She tells The Mirror: “When partnerships are tied to a major life event (such as a wedding) the pricing dynamic can shift. In these cases, brands aren’t just paying for reach; they’re buying into a storyline. Content that is organically integrated into a meaningful, culturally relevant moment often carries added value because it resonates more deeply with audiences and tends to perform better from an engagement and attention standpoint.”
She adds that while influencers with Holly’s following can typically expect mid-four to low-five figure fees per post, a wedding can add to that price. “While general benchmarks are widely used across the industry, individual collaboration pricing can vary substantially depending on the specific scope, deliverables, rights, and context of the partnership.”
Holly, who has 457,000 followers on Instagram and 312,000 on TikTok, could earn thousands of pounds for one single brand post. According to Nisrin, an influencer with between 100,000 to 500,000 followers can expect to be paid between £5,000 to £15,000 per post. While those with between 500,000 and one million followers can expect between £15,000 to £30,000 per post, according to Nisrin.
Fans were also speculating about another brand collaboration after Holly shared several images of her trip to luxury stationery brand Smythson, writing: “Designing our wedding stationery with @smythson was a dream come true. “From the engraved plate mark invites with gold bevelled edges to the dark green tissue lined envelopes, it all added the perfect touch to our weekend.”
The post was not marked up as an ad or a paid post so the nature of the collaboration is unknown. In the UK, if an influencer or celebrity is given a product for free in exchange for social media posts, it is vital that they disclose the content as an ad or at least make it clear it was gifted. Not doing so could land them in legal trouble.
But Holly’s pay day has raised eyebrows after her husband Adam Peaty’s family were banned from the wedding that they had been struggling to afford to attend in the first place. The astonishing family feud kicked off after news arose that Adam’s mum Caroline was not invited to Holly’s hen, where she was joined by her mum, Adam’s sister Bethany and Victoria Beckham at Soho Farmhouse.
The Olympic champion’s relatives told reporters they feel excluded from Adam’s new, high-profile social circle. Family members had expressed concern about the cost of attending the Christmas ceremony and reception at Kin House, an exclusive country estate near Bath where weekend weddings start from £32,750
One relative told the Daily Mail: “We were sent a save the date and it’s all these country houses. I’m on Universal Credit – I can’t afford that.” Only Adam’s sister Bethany was thought to have attended the event in December.
“Adam has been changed by money, fame and fortune,” the family source added. “He seems to have forgotten where he came from.” Adam’s mother Caroline Peaty, 60, who suffers from fibromyalgia, was devastated after being told she was no longer welcome at her son’s wedding. Sources claim Adam told her she would not see his five-year-old son George, or any future grandchildren, again following the dispute.
Adam had previously issued a statement following on from the fallout in December. In his message, the triple Olympic medallist revealed that he, Holly, and his sister Bethany were unable to reveal the complete story due to an “ongoing police investigation into serious matters that arose long before recent events.”
However, he did voice his distress at developments occurring at the time, stating: “It has been deeply hurtful and upsetting to read, especially given the false basis upon which we have been targeted. What makes it worse is that it has been encouraged by members of my family.”
Before Adam’s rise to stardom, Caroline is said to have made immense sacrifices to support his Olympic dream, including waking up before dawn to drive him to swimming sessions across the UK and even going into debt alongside her husband Mark to fund their son’s training.
The couple have starkly different upbringings, with Holly being born into her father’s fortune while Adam comes from a working class background – something his family claim he is trying to escape from.
Now, it appears Adam is following in his wife’s footsteps after joining her agency Hypesight who signs dozens of other influencers. In his description on the website, they referred to the wedding and said that Adam was stepping into a “new era” where his sports background meets a “quietly elevated sense of modernity”.
They also said Adam’s family was “central to his narrative”. The description read: “A devoted father to his son George, Adam keeps family central to his narrative, navigating the demands of elite sport alongside the realities of everyday life and fatherhood.
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“Recently married to public figure and mental health advocate Holly Ramsay Peaty in a Christmas ceremony at Bath Abbey, he steps into a new era where sport, culture, and lifestyle intersect with a quietly elevated sense of modernity.”
READ MORE: Gordon Ramsay swears in on air row with daughter as This Morning forced to apologise
The ‘underrated’ heist thriller highlights the lead pair’s ‘explosive chemistry’ and it’s airing on Film4 this evening at 6.45pm.
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An often overlooked heist thriller featuring two Hollywood heavyweights is set to grace television screens this evening.
The 1999 action-packed film boasts stylish set pieces and steamy romance, with critics singling out the leads’ sizzling on-screen chemistry as one of its strongest elements. Helmed by director Jon Amiel from a script by Ronald Bass, Entrapment is a compelling action thriller with romance woven throughout. The Sean Connery- Catherine Zeta-Jones vehicle will broadcast on Film4 tonight, January 12, at 6.45pm.
Connery and Zeta-Jones are supported by Will Patton, Ving Rhames and Maury Chaykin in an accomplished ensemble cast, reports the Express. Filming took place across various locations throughout Malaysia and Britain, and the picture raked in an impressive $212 million worldwide against a $66 million production budget.
The official synopsis states: “Insurance investigator Virginia “Gin” Baker (Catherine Zeta-Jones), looking into a stolen Rembrandt painting, suspects that accomplished thief Robert “Mac” MacDougal (Sean Connery) is responsible. She decides to go undercover and help Mac steal an ancient artifact. When a suspicious Mac confronts Gin about her real intentions, she claims that she is, in fact, a thief and that the insurance job is a cover. To prove it, she proposes a new target that could net them $8 billion.”
The film received a mixed reception from critics and audiences alike, though viewers were captivated by the undeniable chemistry between Connery and Zeta-Jones, widely regarded as the film’s strongest asset. One critic described it as: “The kind of slick, sleek entertainment that shows audiences a good time mostly because of an elaborately tricky plot.” Another said: “With a dazzling performance, Catherine Zeta-Jones dominates the picture with absolute assurance and a bewitching smile.”
A third reviewer said of the film: “Gets by well enough on style and star chemistry and the basic allure of watching a tightly-planned caper unfold.” Audiences were similarly impressed by the leading pair, with one fan commenting: “A very underrated heist film that has good acting and chemistry between Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery.”
Another enthusiastic viewer said: “I’m not sure what the people that rated this movie so low were expecting exactly, but this is one of my favorite movies. If you love bank heist genres, then this movie does not disappoint. It’s action packed with an Oscar winning all star cast.”
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Meanwhile, one delighted fan wrote: “Lovely heist movie with a cool vibe between Catherine Z and Sean. It’s one of those movies that you enjoy more every time you see it. whenever it’s on TV you stop 2 watch. Sean is so debonair and Cat Z is at the height of her beauty. nice movie twists, turns, and surprises!” Another thrilled viewer added: “Amazing movie. Highly underrated. Just watched it again after almost 20 years and it still holds its value and would hold its own against most of the garbage from the past 2 decades. I wish they still made them like this.”
Entrapment is set to be broadcast on Film4 this evening, January 12, at 6.45pm.
Instantly recognisable for her bright coloured clothes and sassy specs, Prue Leith may be 85, but she has no plans to grow old gracefully
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Push-ups and pilates are just a few examples of exercise that Prue Leith describes as “variations of hell.”
Now 85, the forthright grande dame of cookery, declares: “I find exercise for the sake of exercise painful and unbelievably boring.
“Being tortured on a Pilates reformer machine, forcing oneself out into the rain to go running or doing push-ups on the bedroom floor are all variations of hell for me. Ditto yoga, steps, spinning and the rest.”
Married to retired clothes designer John Playfair, 77, who she lives with in a house they built together in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, the Great British Bake Off presenter’s revelations come in her new book Being Old…And Learning to Love It, published on February 26.
Prue – known for her bold appearance, with brightly coloured clothes and sassy specs – is not growing old gracefully any time soon.
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But, mum to politician son Danny and filmmaker daughter Li-Da, she says her grandchildren can threaten her youthful outlook. She says: ”You know you’re old when your three-year-old grandchild grabs your neck and says, ‘Nana, why is your neck so stringy?’ And you can’t deny the stooping back, greying hair, widening waist and, and, and. But I think old age is largely in the mind.”
Keeping contestants on their toes as a judge on Ch 4’s The Great British Bake Off, she is pleased that attitudes to ageing have changed. She says: “My parents’ generation, and many of mine, imbibed the idea that once we’re past 60, all sorts of things are ‘inappropriate’ for us: dancing, sitting on a bar stool, wearing pillar-box red, smoking weed. They seem to think we should all wear beige, sit in a corner and knit.
“I think they were brainwashed. They got the wrong idea of their worth, concurring with the idea that oldies should be neither seen nor heard, that we should dress as unobtrusively as possible, that we should stop thinking about romance, love and sex, that we are too old to be of any use to anyone, and that we should devote ourselves to good causes and ungrateful grandchildren.”
Prue has no truck with the ‘MEDS’ mantra for the elderly, in which M is for Mindset and having a positive attitude; E is for exercise, which you need every day; D is for diet, eating in moderation and eschewing alcohol and S is for stress, which should be avoided. “Needless to say, I don’t match up,” she says. “I’m lucky in that I positively relish a bit of stress: I like having lots of balls in the air and a full diary, and I enjoy sorting muddles and fixing things. But I seldom feel stressed.”
What she describes as “forced exercise” is something Prue finds particularly tough. She says: “At various times in my life, I’ve joined gyms that I never went to. I’ve hired personal trainers and soon unhired them, and made countless resolutions about exercise and diet that I’ve never stuck to. The worst kind of exercise is when it’s non-competitive, like Pilates or yoga or going to the gym.”
And she says she’s not exercise-shy, she just prefers sporty pastimes. Prue says: “I love tennis because it’s sociable and there’s a chance you’ll win. I love riding because it’s exhilarating, and you can do it in a gang. I used to exercise polo ponies on Ham Common in London with a dozen or so other amateur riders, and there is intense pleasure in cantering in a companiable group in the early mornings with the mist just dispersing, as you watch deer and scattering rabbits. I also used to play tennis every Tuesday morning. Weekends at home in the country offered long walks, and more tennis and riding.”
Ageing has, sadly, curtailed some of these hobbies. “As l’ve got older, I’ve reluctantly adapted,” she says. “I stopped riding when my daughter left home and sold her horse, and I found myself hacking about the countryside on my tod. I realised that if I was lying in a ditch with a broken back, my horse would just crop the grass and wait for me to get on again.
“He wouldn’t, like my childhood pony, Laddie, run home to fetch help. I stopped playing tennis when I kept falling over; likewise, I now fish from a boat, not standing in a rushing river; and last Christmas I went sit-skiing, not skiing. All these accommodations have been forced on me, and I’m fine with that: I don’t want to be swept away by the river Spey or to break my neck on an Alpine piste.”
Put off skiing by two attempts to learn – one, aged 19, and one later in life, she says: “Both times a disaster.” The second time was on nursery slopes with no snow in Wengen, Switzerland. She says: “Utter fiasco. I had long skis which kept coming off, and a 17-year-old Austrian instructor, whose flowing blonde hair and graceful moves disguised the hard-faced devil she really was. She swooped down the icy slopes and I came tumbling after. She shouted a lot, I cried a lot.”
But she loves sit-skiing, which she discovered during a no expense spared “magical Christmas week trip to Val d’Isère in 2024 with 17 members of our ‘blended’ tribe.” She says: “I thought, ‘’sod it, let’s go the whole hog’. What better way to spend your hard-earned cash than on a family holiday? But the highlight, for me, was the sit-skiing.”
She also loves travelling around the UK with husband John – often turning work trips to promote her books, or a theatre tour with her stand-up show into a mini-break adventure. She says: “John sweetly comes with me, and that turns a work trip into a jolly jaunt. Even if you are booked in different theatres every night, the towns are so close it’s never more than a few hours’ drive to get to the next one, leaving time to see the town.
“All four of us – me, John, the driver-cum-fixer-cum-techie and Clive Tulloch, producer, director and friend bowl along, listening to music or podcasts, or chatting and doing emails. We arrive in time for a nice lunch, then I’ll have a nap while John goes exploring, and Clive and Jim set up at the theatre. Then we’ll do the show and have a nightcap in our hotel.”
And Prue always follows what seems to be her age-defying mantra, saying: “Nothing in moderation!”
