Category Entertainment News

Christine McGuinness is said to be ‘heartbroken’ over rumours she exchanged ‘flirty messages’ with Dan Osborne, with the mum-of-three upset her personal life is yet again subject to scrutiny.

After claims last week that Christine McGuinness and Dan Osborne exchanged “flirty” messages as they “supported” one another amid their respective marital woes, a source now says mum-of-three Christine is “heartbroken” that her personal life is yet again being put through the wringer.

The Sun has claimed there was a “spark” between Christine and Dan, who are said to have been friends since 2019, but our source says that rumours of any romantic connection between the pair are simply not true.

“Christine and Dan both feel this has been blown out of proportion. Christine is heartbroken and in pain over the whole thing and can’t believe it’s being painted like this. They’ve been friends for years and have helped each other through tough times respectively, but that’s literally all it is.”

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Dan is thought to have recently patched things up with his wife, Jacqueline Jossa, after they publicly confirmed a brief split earlier this year – sharing loved-up snaps from holidays abroad and more recently at a wedding with friends.

The couple, who share two children, have been married since 2017, but their relationship has been quite a rollercoaster – including rumours of infidelity on Dan’s part. And last week, their relationship was yet again thrust into the spotlight as a source claimed to The Sun that Dan, 33, had exchanged “flirty messages” with Christine, 37.

“Their friendship goes as far back as 2019, when Jacqueline was heading down under to the I’m A Celeb jungle and they had a brilliant night out at a fundraising gala in London. They stayed in touch sporadically and would bump into each other at events and their messages got pretty flirty,” The Sun’s source claimed.

They added, “Some were seen by mutual friends. She would call him ‘D’ in texts and it became an open secret among their circles. There is no suggestion anything sexual happened, but it’s fair to say that there was a spark between them.”

Christine split from her husband of 11 years, comedian and TV presenter Paddy McGuinness, back in 2023, with The Sun claiming she met Dan later that year at a London hotel – but that “nothing sexual” happened between them.

While she may be enjoying single life, Christine is still living with ex-husband Paddy in their shared Cheshire home, having previously revealed that the dynamic works best for their children, 11-year-old twins Leo and Penelope and daughter Felicity, eight, who are all autistic, as is the former Pilgrimage star herself.

Opening up on how Paddy, who the model met back in 2007, is and always will be a part of her family, whom she “loves”, Christine said recently, “I need a connection now – something different. I really, really, honestly, I love my family, and Patrick is part of my family and he always, always will be. But now for my next relationship, I want someone for me.”

The pair spend time in separate parts of their house, Christine revealed during an appearance on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast, to ensure their children have “continuity” while they are able to enjoy their own space. “We have different wings. I always joke about [that] he is in the West Wing. We completely have our own spaces on the top floor of the house. I’m on the floor with the children and yeah, it works for us because we don’t have to move the children.

“They’ve got that continuity and it’s consistent. When they come home from school, they know where they’re going to. They’ve got their own rooms, everything they need is in that house, and it doesn’t matter too much whether it’s Mummy at home or Daddy at home. With our schedules being all over the place, it doesn’t affect them.”

Explaining their decision to not tell the children about the split, Christine said last year, “The children are so young and they don’t understand relationships yet. I think if they did, we would have absolutely said, ‘Mummy and Daddy are really good friends and we’re still family forever and we absolutely love you and that will never change.’ But they don’t know any different and there are times when they see us when we’re in the house together and we’re chatting away and having a laugh and a cup of tea.”

Christine was due to appear in the new series of Celebs Go Dating, which is set to air later this year, but she pulled out of the show after saying it was “too soon” to be dating on a public platform and dealing with the attention that brings.

Now, our source claims that the reports surrounding Christine and Dan are exactly the kind of thing she was hoping to avoid by pulling out of the reality show. “This is totally what Christine didn’t want. It’s the reason she pulled out of Celebs Go Dating. She didn’t want the attention on her life or family and neither did Paddy. They want to protect their kids’ privacy,” our source said.

With Dan and Jacqueline recently taking a trip abroad together to solidify their romance after their split, the source adds that Christine doesn’t want to get in the way of her pal’s marriage. “Christine certainly doesn’t want to look like she’s had anything to do with a married man, or with any problems between Dan and Jacqueline She would never want to wade into someone else’s relationship. It was only ever a friendship. Christine has a good heart and is really upset about all of this.”

James ‘Arg’ Argent was seen celebrating his former The Only Way Is Essex co-star Megan McKenna’s wedding over the weekend, just hours after his ex put out a heartbreaking statement

James ‘Arg’ Argent danced the night away with his The Only Way Is Essex co-stars, just hours after his ex issued a heartbreaking statement. Nicoline Artursson broke her silence on Friday evening for the first time since her ex admitted to domestic violence.

The former Only Way Is Essex star admitted his crime at a court in Spain where he received a six-month suspended prison sentence and a two-year restraining order. Argent pushed his now ex-girlfriend down a flight of stairs, causing the injuries.

As Nicoline spoke of how the “fractures on my body have finally healed but I’m wounded inside”, just hours later, on the Saturday, Arg was at Megan’s wedding, where she tied the knot with her husband Oliver.

Taking to Instagram, Arg posted a video of him and Megan dancing at the nuptials. He wrote: “Congratulations to the beautiful Bride, My dear friend @meganmckenna who got married to the lovely @oliverjburke yesterday.

“I can’t tell you how much it meant to me, That you wanted me there on your special Wedding day. We danced together just like old times in Nu Bar Loughton when we were kids.

He added: “We always supported each other in those TOWIE days & remained friends ever since. You’ve blossomed into an amazing woman. You’re a fantastic mum & you’re going to make a great wife! And you’re a much better singer than me haha. Love ya.”

In her heartbreaking statement, Nicoline explained more about that night. She wrote: “I was brutally thrown out of our new home in the middle of the night wearing only my pyjamas. I opened the door to let him in and only minutes after I found myself laying down on the stairs outside our house. My clothes and belongings were being thrown out from the balcony down on me. I was injured.”

She also added: “A gentleman does not abuse you and end up in jail and call you the love of his life. A gentleman does not blame you for his actions. A gentleman will confide in his partner, family and close circle of friends, keeping them close and safe. A gentleman chooses you always and leaves the past in the past – including exes.

“Life is to be lived together and not to please people who want to take advantage of you. At the end of the day, fame can only do so much – it’s all about being strong and growing together. Life is simply not a reality TV show, life is real. I have tried to understand why. I have cried so many tears thinking about the way he chose to hurt me. He said he loved me and I believed him and here we are.”

*For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk

Kerry Katona has made a fresh plea to her ex husband Brian McFadden, admitting she ‘wishes’ the pair could have remained friends following their 2004 split.

Kerry Katona has admitted how she ‘wishes’ she could have remained friends with ex-husband Brian McFadden following their 2004 break up. The couple dated from 1999 and wed in a stunning Ireland ceremony three years later, before splitting after two years of marriage.

She shares daughters Molly and Lilly-Sue with the Westlife singer, with whom she has famously had a jaded relationship since splitting. Writing in her weekly New! Magazine column, Kerry spoke about Coldplay singer Chris Martin’s recent split from Dakota Johnson and his co-parenting relationship with ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow, comparing it to her own experiences with Brian.

“I was sad to read about Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson’s split, I thought they made a nice couple. It’s amazing how Chris and his ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow have managed to co-parent their kids and stay friends. I take my hat off to anyone who can do that,” began Kerry.

She continued: “I wish Brian and I could have stayed friends. Molly went to watch him at a festival last week and I would have loved to have gone with her. Brian’s fiancée is lovely and they’ve got a gorgeous little one. It would be great to have a better relationship.”

Kerry is also a mum to Heidi, 18, and Max, 17, who she shares with second husband Mark Croft, and youngest daughter DJ, ten, who she welcomed with late husband George Kay.

Previously, Kerry has referred to Brian as the ‘only man she’d ever loved’, while Brian – who is now engaged to Danielle Parkinson- told the Independent in 2007 that early on in the relationship he hadn’t thought about whether he wanted a long-term future with Kerry.

He said that life “ran away” with him, saying: “So then, when we had the first baby, bought a house, spent time together and Westlife became the same thing over and over, I woke up one morning and realised, ‘This is not what I want to do with my life, I don’t see myself being with this woman in 20 years, she’s not who I’m meant to be with, we don’t have anything in common’.”

Kerry said in 2019 that the split left her ‘shattered’, writing in her column: “I remember feeling shattered when my first marriage broke down and I was left with two baby daughters. It’s one thing being heartbroken by the loss of a relationship, but add to that the guilt of being a mum and it’s so hard.”

She added: “[I’ll] never forget the sadness of feeling like I couldn’t make Brian love me enough to keep our family together.” Kerry went on to share in the magazine column at the time that it took her a “long time” to “get over that”.

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Former Love Island star Alex Bowen opens up about feeling ‘nervous’ about welcoming baby number two with wife Olivia – and why her second pregnancy has had its share of heartache

One of the many dads across the country who’ll be celebrating Father’s Day this Sunday is Alex Bowen – and with another baby on the way, this one is bound to be extra special. The reality star, 33, and his wife Olivia are one of Love Island ’s biggest success stories, meeting on the ITV2 show in 2016 and remaining strong ever since. The couple are already parents to son Abel, who turned three this week, and are now getting ready to welcome a baby girl.

But it’s not been an easy journey as Olivia, 31, originally fell pregnant with twins before the couple were told that they’d tragically lost one of their babies at eight weeks, something Alex admits was “really difficult”. Here, speaking exclusively to OK!, he shares his nerves at becoming a dad for the second time, reveals the family’s Father’s Day plans – and, as another series of Love Island begins, he shares the real secret to finding lasting love on TV…

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Hi, Alex! You and Olivia are expecting a baby girl soon, how are you feeling?

I’m excited! To be honest, I was a little wary about the possibility of another boy, because I love my son more than anything. But now that I know we’re having a girl, I think it will be like two completely different loves. It wouldn’t have mattered what gender we had, but having a boy and a girl is the dream, so, I can’t wait. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit nervous because I held one of my friends’ babies recently and I forgot how small they are, it scared me! But I think it’s different when it’s your child, you get into the swing of things when they’re here. I’m excited to have two little ones running around.

Olivia sadly lost one of the babies, how did you navigate that?

Yeah, it has been tough. It’s a shock to find out that you’re having twins, so we were really scared when we found out. I remember being on the way home from a scan, thinking I couldn’t wait to see our three kids in the back of the car – imagining the twins there. I built it up in my head thinking it was 100% happening, so, when we found out that we had lost one, it was really difficult. It’s hard to navigate because you’ve got one healthy baby in there, which you have to focus on, but you’ve also lost one. It was a really weird time, but now we have to focus on the little girl that’s coming. That’s the main thing.

Olivia had a difficult labour with Abel, does that make you nervous for this one?

Yeah, it does, but I was nervous the first time. We’ve spoken to a lot of people that have been through similar things and they say that if you’re really stressed about it, it can make the birth worse. So you’ve got to try and be positive and relaxed – it helps it go smoothly, I guess. I am nervous, but we’ve just got to take every day as it comes. Not that I’m an expert on births!

Is Abel looking forward to being a big brother?

He loves it already. Every morning he gives Liv’s belly a kiss and says, “There’s baby sister in there.” He’s really, really good with babies anyway – when we see friends and family with babies he’ll stroke the baby’s cheek with the back of his hand and is really gentle. He’s such a sweet boy.

Do you think you’ll be protective of your little girl?

Oh, yeah. I’m completely protective of Abel, so God knows what I’ll be like when I have a girl. She’ll be my little princess. So, I feel like I’m going to be extra protective. But also not too much because when she gets older she’s not going to want a protective dad all the time!

Have you decided on a name yet?

Oh, God, no, it’s such a struggle for a girl! I’ve got my favourite, but then it changes and we’ll be like, “I’m not too sure now.” I keep going on different websites and looking through thousands of names, but you don’t want a name that you associate with someone else or that’s going to get them bullied at school, either. We’ve got three names we’re quite stuck on, but I think when we see her, we’ll know straight away, hopefully.

How will you be spending Father’s Day?

It will be quite chilled. Me and Liv have always planned quite extravagant things for each other, but, as we’ve got older, I think just being at home or going for a nice meal as a family, taking the kids to the park or whatever, that’s the best thing. Liv actually bought me a mug for Valentine’s Day, which said ‘Daddy’s special mug’, but it didn’t come for around two or three weeks. So I assumed it was for Father’s Day, I thought it had already been and gone!

Love Island is now back on our screens – is there a secret to finding love on the show like you did?

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I was on that show. I’m nearly 34 now and I was on it when I was 24, I feel old! When you see people come out of it and then split up, everyone tarnishes it saying, “Oh, no one lasts from Love Island .” Truth is, people split up all the time in day-to-day life, whether they met on TV or not. You can just get sick of people.

I’m just lucky that me and Liv really got on and she’s put up with most of my rubbish for all of these years! We were meant to be together. We do argue, but it never really gets any worse than that – I feel like there’s no point throwing anything away. In today’s society, it’s so easy to jump on a dating website or think the grass is greener when it’s not. Liv and I aren’t quitters – we work on our relationship all the time.

Peter Andre has spoken out on his near-two decade age gap with wife Emily MacDonagh, recalling one particular mistake which made their difference in age very noticeable.

Peter Andre has addressed his age gap relationship with wife Emily MacDonagh, who is 16 years younger than him. The couple have been married since 2015 and share three children; Amelia, Theo and Arabella.

Writing in his weekly New! Magazine column, the Mysterious Girl singer said that the dynamic ‘works’ for them and quipped that age is just a number, but did recall one incident where the gap was more prominent.

Taking to his column, Peter began by addressing 67-year-old Stephen Fry’s marriage to Elliott Spencer, who is three decades his junior at age 38. Admitting that he’s not one to judge, Peter wrote: “Actor Stephen Fry has talked about the 30-year age gap in his relationship with his partner, Elliott Spencer.

“It all depends on the relationship, how the partners are with each other and how they view things, I think. There’s a 16-year gap between me and Emily, and it really works for us,” he explained.

That’s not to say the age gap goes unnoticed, as Peter continued: “There’s one thing we do laugh about, though… We were at the Pride of Britain awards one year and Jon Bon Jovi came over to chat. I’ve met him many times over the years and he’s a lovely person.

He introduced himself to Emily and after he walked away, she turned to me and said, “Who was that?” I was like, “Are you serious? It’s Bon Jovi.” In the most confused but innocent voice, she said, “What’s a Bon Jovi?”

“We laughed about that a lot afterwards! It’s in those moments we may realise the age gap –usually with music and films – but in general, we love the same things. I think it’s what works for you in a relationship. Who are we to judge?”

The couple first met when the latter was 20 and Peter 36, but didn’t begin dating for two years. They were introduced through Emily’s dad, Dr Ruaraidh MacDonagh, a consultant urologist.

Peter was undergoing kidney stone removal surgery in 2010 performed by Ruaraidh, and he later met Emily – at the time a medical student – through the doctor.

The couple started dating in 2012 went on to marry three years later in a beautiful ceremony at Mamhead House and Castle in Devon.

Now parents to their three children and Emily a stepmum to Peter’s kids Junior and Princess, the family keep their three youngest kids’ faces away from social media and are relatively private online.

Newcomer Laura Doddington has proved quite a hit on Albert Square. Here, she talks nearly quitting acting before bagging her EastEnders role – and the struggle for ‘women of a certain age’

Laura Doddington has quickly become a soap favourite after her bombshell entrance as Nicola Mitchell in EastEnders just a couple of months ago. Since then, her character has been embroiled in a murder and now a long-ago affair has been uncovered, which has blown up into major drama.

With the makings of a true soap matriarch, it’s no surprise Laura, 44, found herself nominated for Best Newcomer at the British Soap Awards last month. But before bagging her dream role, the actress of 22 years, she tells OK!, considered changing careers, thinking her big break would never come.

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“If I’m honest with you, the industry is hard at the moment,” says Laura, speaking to new prior to the awards ceremony. “Before this audition came through, I’d been looking at retraining to do something else. I’ve got a young kid – and that makes you think about their future and stability for them.

“I cut my son’s hair and I’m reasonably good at it, so I thought that might be an option. I was in Prime Suspect when I was in my twenties and The Midwich Cuckoos, but they weren’t massive parts. I was beginning to think it might not be possible to have that lead role.”

Cambridge-born Laura also had small roles in Doctors, Holby City and Casualty, as well as frequent theatre work, before getting the breakthrough she wanted so much. She landed the part of the latest feisty Mitchell woman, Nicola, nine months ago. “I’ve been a jobbing actor for 22 years and over that time you deal with really amazing highs, but also lows – missing out on jobs, not even getting seen for jobs,” Laura says.

“So when I got the part, even though I’d been in it before for a fleeting moment, I was ecstatic. I’m really lucky that [former executive producer] Chris Clenshaw took a punt on a jobbing actor and gave me the chance. This came at the right time. It feels incredible.”

Laura says the audition process was an emotional rollercoaster and she feared she’d missed out on the chance of a lifetime.”“I didn’t hear anything for four weeks,” she recalls. “I thought it had gone to someone else. Unfortunately, in this industry, when you get to over the age of about 35 and you haven’t made a name for yourself, the interesting roles sort of start drying up.

“We stop being interested in women when they get over a certain age, which is bonkers, and that’s why I love soaps and continuing dramas as they champion individuals of all ages and put characters at the heart of storytelling.” Eventually the call came through to say that Laura had got the part. “When I found out, there were a lot of tears and a lot of expletives,” she says, laughing.

Laura admits she was full of nerves when she stepped out in Albert Square for her first scenes as Nicola. But she says Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale and was her mentor, was on hand to help. “He was on set on my first day in case I had any questions,” she says.

“It was his day off but he came in, bless him. Everyone on the show is so welcoming and kind. It was daunting doing scenes with soap legends as colleagues. Seeing Steve [McFadden], Letitia [Dean] – it was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ But they are amazing. And the boys – Roland, Elijah and Lewis – they were awesome. We gelled so quickly.”

The new Mitchells – Teddy (Roland Manookian) and his sons Harry (Elijah Holloway) and Barney (Lewis Bridgeman) – arrived in Walford in June 2024, causing a stir when it was revealed they were Stevie Mitchell’s secret family. Mum Nicola joined later, having spent time behind bars for injecting unlicensed filler.

Laura says it can be intense filming dramatic scenes, so the cast often try to lighten the mood in between takes. “The boys and I often burst into song between takes,” she reveals. “It’s hilarious when you belt out a tune and no one else joins in and you’re like, ‘That song was too random.’

“I’m high energy, a bit like a cocker spaniel most of the time. Then I realise that I have to portray the character and I’ll take a minute to focus and get back into Nicola’s head.” Although very different to her villainous character, Laura says they do share one quality. “I relate to her protectiveness of her children,” she says.

Letting her young son watch her EastEnders entrance last year was the first and last episode he’s seen. “He turned to me and he said, ‘Mummy, you’re not very nice in this, are you?’ I went, ‘No I’m not, lovely.’ Then he asked, ‘Do you mind if I don’t watch it?’ In my head I was going, ‘Thank God – I mean, you were never going to watch it!’”

With a murder, an affair and a huge family secret now exposed, is there a future for Nicola on the soap? “There’s always redemption,” Laura jokes. “The knock-on effect of a secret of 16 years coming out would bring drama into anyone’s life. In Nicola and the boys’ case I think there’s a journey to be had in that. It’ll be interesting to see what she will do, how she repairs it with Barney.”

Hoping to be an Albert Square favourite for years to come, Laura says, “I don’t want to go yet! But in the end that’s not up to me. Everything is finite. I will just enjoy every moment that I’m here.”

See Laura in EastEnders on Monday to Thursday (with an extra show this week on Friday), 7.30pm, BBC One and BBC iPlayer