Category Entertainment News

Samantha Womack, the actress who left EastEnders, revealed it wasn’t her choice to end her beloved Ronnie Mitchell role.

Samantha Womack has hit out at soap bosses for being “rejected” as she reflected on her exit from EastEnders. The actress, who won over fans with her portrayal of Ronnie Mitchell, made her debut on the BBC soap in 2007.

She teamed up with Rita Simons, who played Roxy, her close sister. After Ronnie’s second wedding to Jack Branning, the dearly beloved sister duo were brutally murdered.

Sean O’Connor took over as executive producer, making the decision to leave Albert Square with Ronnie and Roxy. Samantha now admits that it wasn’t Rita’s or her choice to leave the soap and that she felt “rejected” by the new boss.

She acknowledged that she had no idea what transpired because one producer was leaving and another was coming in. Samantha struggled to accept life without Walford, as she described herself as “losing a family.”

Samantha compared the loss to a “bereavement” and revealed it made her lose “stability”. “But the thing that was the most painful – and it really was painful – was that me and Rita loved feeling like we belonged there,” she told the Daily Mail.

Then to be rejected, which hit us both so hard, I understand that’s emotional, but that’s what it was. Samantha has since been able to see it differently in the course of time.

She claimed that leaving the soap opened doors for new opportunities. The actress has focused on her acting career and has since taken on a number of high-profile roles.

She also appeared in the musical The Addams Family and appeared in The Girl on the Train in the United Kingdom in 2019. Since then, she has relocated to Valencia.

However, things haven’t been easy for Samantha as she underwent gruelling treatment for breast cancer after being diagnosed in August 2022, which has changed her outlook on life.

“I feel so much more enlightened,” she told the Mirror. “I know myself better, I feel humbler, I feel calmer.” Samantha added: “After my year-and-a-half of treatment, I started turning down a lot of stuff – and I didn’t have the bank balance to match that confidence, trust me.”

Samantha explained that when I said she was cancer-free in December 2022, “it was me saying the word “no” and my bank account started to creak.”

But there was empowerment in that because I decided, “OK, I need to go through this, spend time with myself, and figure out some things that I’ve forgotten to do, maybe some things I’ve forgotten.” “

Samantha learned she had a fast-spreading, Grade 3 invasive duct carcinoma and her treatment – a lumpectomy and lymph node removal, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy – couldn’t wait.

People living with cancer and their loved ones can receive private support from The Macmillan Support Line. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.

READ MORE: ‘I ditched B&Q paint for an eco-friendly range and it’s transformed my home’

As Pulp took to the stage and at some point during their performance of Common People, the Red Arrows flew past the festival’s fans, who were predicting it was accurate.

Pulp’s surprise set at Glastonbury Festival this evening featured a surprise appearance – the Red Arrows.

The Sheffield group, revealed as the mystery band Patchwork, took to the Pyramid Stage and began with a rendition of their hit song Sorted For E’s And Wizz while the words Pulp Summer appeared on the screen behind them. Following their opening track, the Jarvis Cocker-fronted band launched into one of their best known songs, Disco 2000, from 1995’s Different Class, one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1990s, prompting a mass singalong from the Glastonbury crowd.

Additionally, the band performed Acrylic Afternoons and Spike Island. After playing their breakthrough single Do You Remember The First Time, the band received a double whammy for two of their best-known songs, Babies and Common People. earlier in the set.

READ MORE: Glastonbury Festival’s mystery act Patchwork – likeliest stars performing under fake name

Fans were also enthralled to see the Red Arrows fly over Glastonbury during their performance of Common People. The Red Arrows, the Pyramid, and Pulp, the Pyramid, and the Red Arrows, the best place on earth, was a phrase that was shared on X. The best song from the 1990s, according to another user, “Common People by Pulp.” I’ll climb that hill to pass away! At the pyramid stage, thousands of people are sung in their hearts out. What was the timing of the Red Arrows’ landing?

A third person claimed that it was too strange for the Red Arrows to flypast during the Pulp set in Glasto. According to another person, “The Red Arrows may be the most British thing to ever happen while Pulp play Common People.”

“The Red Arrows are seen flying over Glastonbury while Common People is sung in Pulp.” “Peak British,” another person said. One more phrase was added, “Red Arrows could not have anticipated that better coming over the Pyramid right before Pulp’s Common Man’s climax.” “pulp featuring the red arrows,” a festival goer wrote. best weekend set so far, “”

30 years after their headline performance at the festival, when they stood in for The Stone Roses after the Manchester band’s guitarist John Squire was hurt in a cycling accident. Before the performance began, groups of people dressed as waterproof parkas took to the stage and projected footage from their 1995 headline show on the backstage.

The festival worked hard to keep the identity of the mysterious Patchwork act a secret, but hours before the anonymous band was set to perform, a telling clue was spotted. Among the names circulating on social media were Chappell Roan, Harry Styles or even Robbie Williams.

However, a festival-goer has exclusively revealed to The Mirror they have spotted a telling clue on a sound engineer box right by the Pyramid stage today. A source has shared an exclusive photograph of the boxes – one of which is labelled with the band name Pulp.

The sound engineer box with Pulp’s name on it was set up during the Kaiser Chiefs set, the source claimed. Expert social media platform SecretGlasto, which has earned a reputation for confirming secret Worthy Farm acts for ten years, revealed Pulp as the mysterious act earlier this month.

Fans called for a “Pulp Day” in April after the legendary band announced a new album release. Later this year, Frontman Jarvis Cocker announced the group would release their eighth studio album. The band’s most recent release, 2013’s After You, was the band’s most recent release, and the album is more than a decade old.

While radio stations predominately played Pulp songs, X users shared photos of their albums, announcements, and interview snippets from the band over the years. Do You Remember the First Time?, a Pulp song by Lauren Laverne from BBC Radio 6? and Common People, which caused Twitter users to label Pulp Day as “glorious.”

A different user wished everyone a “happy Pulp Day” by sharing a drawing of the band. One user criticized Lauren Laverne’s listeners for “pulling it out of the park” with their Pulp selections. “A close call Pulp takeover,” added another. “Glorious”

We look back at one of showbiz royalty’s longest-running feuds as legend Rod Stewart prepares to open the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage…

Sir Elton John and Rod Stewart have kept up one of the longest running fallouts in showbusiness.

Despite having been friends for more than 50 years, the veteran rockers have remained tense as a result of a complex relationship that has turned from childish jokes to full-fledged assassinations.

In a seemingly never-ending battle of words, the catty pair have been handbags since the dawn of their lives.

We look back at one of showbiz royalty’s most outrageous conflicts as Rod prepares to perform on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in a follow-on to Elton John’s footsteps.

Elton and Rod changed from chart rivals to friends after starting their musical careers in the swinging sixties and amusing fans with a string of escalating pranks.

Rod Rodney once described Elton as a “fierce enemy” in the music industry, but claimed that their public outbursts only started at a “playful” level before things actually started to go wrong.

In the 1970s, Elton ordered that billboards with his own face be displayed on the opposite side of the street with the message “but Brunettes make more money” when Rod started his Blondes ‘ave More Fun Tour.”

In another incident, Rod hired a sniper to shoot down blimps Rod hired to play music from the sky in another incident.

Like a married couple, we had the worst row. Rod previously admitted, “It went on forever.

In his 2019 autobiography Me, Elton dedicated a whole chapter to his dislike of Rod and makes some incredible digs at him along the way.

Rod slated him during a TV interview, thereby bringing their disdain for one another to a boil in the soul of Elton’s voice.

The singer claimed that Elton’s epic 300-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road retirement tour was “dishonest” and “stunk of selling tickets.” ‘

Rodd added that because music is not very “rock and roll,” he would never have thought to announce his retirement from the industry. ‘

In his no holds barred autobiography, Elton exacted his revenge after the public dig, which left him reeling for months.

Putting pen to paper, he scathed: “I certainly didn’t feel like I needed a lecture on the feral spirit of rock and roll from someone who’d spent most of the last decade crooning his way through the Great American Songbook and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”

And he continued on…

The hitmaker blasted the accuser, “He was accusing me of being dishonest about one of my biggest decisions of my life.”

Additionally, I thought he was f****** up when he complained to me about promoting a tour while he was sat on a TV show to promote his own tour. “

Rod apologised when the book was released. of various kinds.

She doesn’t like me at the moment, according to Ellington. I suddenly became disorderly. He told reporters that he was correct but out of line.

Roddy blamed TV producers for shoddy drinking before the show for Rod’s loose tongue.

“I knocked them all back with four big shots of neat vodka, and I’m a butch man.”

I thought 300 dates in three years might be a little pricey to me. Look, I am aware of his origin.

He recently gave birth to two kids, but I’m making travel plans for them. He’ll miss it, in my opinion. The next performance is on my radar. ”

Rodney, the Rocketman singer, vehemently declined to invite Elton’s young sons to play football on his personal pitch, pleading for peace.

Elton began to feel a little thaw when he claimed he wanted to end the row with his former pal in time for Christmas in November 2020.

Rod received a “big hug” and a card, but he later admitted, “In the end, I just sent an email to his assistant.”

It stated that although we’ve known each other for a while, the relationship is still under the bridge, and that I initially wanted to be p****d. Who is concerned? Good luck with your newest album. “

When Rod retorted that he would now only speak to Elton in interviews, any chance of a face-to-face conversation vanished quickly.

He will say something in our morning papers and I will publish it later that evening. We fight our battles in that manner, he said.

In an effort to resolve the situation, Elliot attempted to speak with Rod personally, but Rod’s manager informed him that he was receiving “constant vocal rest” between his performances and unable to speak.

Elton rebuffed it, “Until I realized his complete vocal rest didn’t prevent him from airing more chat shows and radio programs where he was called “money grabbing” and “slagging off [my film] Rocketman,” incensed him.

“He was happy enough chatting away on Loose Women, he just didn’t want to speak to me.

He said, “I haven’t heard from him in a while. It just seems so strange and depressing, not the least of which is because it prevents me from highlighting how much better my tour is selling. ”

In another glimmer of hope of the two pals reuniting, just before New Year 2021, Rod was asked what he would say to Elton as he appeared on a US chat show.

Rod responded, “Love you, baby.” “Good luck, and I’m so incredibly irritated that you have a Number One album. “

Heidi Croft, 18, Heidi’s daughter, has spoken out for the first time to defend her mother Kerry from the “hate” she receives from the racy website OnlyFans.

Kerry Katona’s daughter, Heidi, is speaking out against trolls who have labelled her mother a “prostitute” and “trollop”. The Atomic Kitten singer’s tumultuous life has been widely reported over the years, from her relationships to an abusive partner and financial difficulties that led to her being declared bankrupt twice.

Heidi, 18, is adamant: “I couldn’t do OnlyFans, despite her mother’s success on OnlyFans. I’ve been told by my mother that I can’t either. I want to practice law or develop real estate, so this is not the path I want to take.

“Mum sometimes struggles with men seeing her in that sexual way. I wouldn’t like that at all. I’ve not paid to see her pictures on there, that would be weird, but I know what she does.”

In her first interview, the teenager asserts: “They should realise Kerry Katona is now rolling in it – she drives a Lamborghini. I couldn’t be prouder of her. She has worked so hard. People forget OnlyFans is just a new thing; she has been singing, doing reality work and TV appearances for nearly 25 years. She has never stopped. She put us through private school, we go on amazing holidays, she just bought me clothes for the weekend.”

OnlyFans has also contributed to the purchase of a five-bedroom detached house in Cheshire. Kerry’s upbringing in nearby Warrington was far less luxurious.

The 44 year old, who grew up in foster care, resorted to topless modelling and lap dancing to make ends meet before landing her big break in music. She has starred in her own reality shows, won I’m A Celeb, and appeared on Big Brother and Dancing On Ice.

In April, a fter making millions on adult subscription site OnlyFans, Kerry says her work on the X-rated platform is a non-negotiable when it comes to romantic relationships. The mum-of-five has been making money on OnlyFans since 2020 and charges $24.99 a month for fans to subscribe to her platform.

At the time, following the news that boxer Nicola Adams’ split from her partner Ella Baig was impacted by the latter’s career on OnlyFans, Kerry explained whether the career path has ever caused her issues in relationships, and how she will handle it with any future partners.

Kerry, who split from her fiancé Ryan Mahoney in November last year, wrote in her New! Magazine column: “I was sad to hear about Nicola Adams splitting up with her partner Ella Baig – I hope they’re both doing OK. I read that Nicola said Ella’s OnlyFans career impacted their relationship, which is a shame.

Because I do OnlyFans, it didn’t have a negative impact on our relationship when we were with Ryan, and we both knew that.

Kerry continued, “I don’t know the potential problems it could cause, but if I do meet someone new, it’s something they’re going to need to accept,” adding that it won’t be something that should be discussed with potential partners. They would need to understand that because it is what I do and how I make money for my kids.

Kerry has previously outlined how her work on the website helped her transition from a near-bankruptcy to thriving financially. She has previously discussed the positives she has gained from it.

Detailing how the platform changed her life, , Kerry explained to The Sun in 2021: “It’s been amazing for my career, I haven’t stopped working. When I first did it I said to the kids ‘I’m going to do this, and I’m going to go topless – if anyone has any problems, let me know’

Our Lilly, the former Atomic Kitten singer, continued, “wait until the money comes in and see how you feel about it. “

And once the money started flowing, they were all on their iPads and running awry! A Lamborghini Urus will be available in March, too, for myself.

Robbie Williams, the former Take That actor, made rumors that he would perform at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival public, and he finally made them known on social media.

After igniting fan apprehension, Robbie Williams has finally confirmed that he will be performing at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival. The 51-year-old pop star appeared to have suggested that he might be one of the festival’s top performers this year.

Glastonbury is known for allowing renowned musicians to perform on stage without having their presence known. Actors and performers have even taken to the stage at the annual event to astonish the thousands of music fans who attend under fictitious names.

The Foo Fighters performed on the Pyramid Stage in 2023, outdoing their previous name, The Churnups, to surprise fans. While Lorde and Lewis Capaldi give performances for fans at the 2025 festival without having their names on the festival’s roster before.

On one of the stage on Saturday, a band called Patchwork is scheduled to play, but this is likely to be a major performer’s pseudonym. And Robbie’s potential as the star that everyone expects to perform on stage has been questioned by fans.

He teased fans by suggesting that he might play at the festival on Friday, sharing a photo of a plaque indicating his 1995 appearance there. The plaque read: “1995. Robbie Williams entered this field without being acquired, authorized, or in line with the accepted skepticism.

His presence was unwelcome, unofficial, and ultimately unavoidable. 30 years later, he shared the image via social media with a brief caption that read, “…

He also updated his profile photo to a throwback image of himself at the event wearing a red-and-white tracksuit and posted a photo of a fence with the message “Welcome to Glastonbury.”

Despite all the teasing, Rob confirmed he would not actually be performing over the weekend. He took to Instagram Stories to admit he would not take to the stage.

He wrote, “I’m not performing this year,” leaving some fans speechless. Go see The 1975, Busta Rhymes, Self Esteem, Charli XCX, and Reverend and the Makers if you are there.

One of the stars at the festival this year is Sir Rod Stewart, who previously expressed his excitement for the occasion. On Sunday, he will play the titleless teatime Legend’s Slot, which he isn’t overly excited about.

He told the BBC: “I just wish they wouldn’t call it the tea time slot. That sounds like pipe and slippers, doesn’t it?” However, he went on to tease fans what to expect when he takes to the stage.

There are still many songs we won’t be able to play because I typically work well over two hours, he said. But we’ve been putting in some effort.

“I won’t announce anything between songs,” I said. I’ll enter one number with the shout “next,” and then proceed to the next one. I’ll try to get as many songs as possible.

The singer claimed that he typically plays for more than two hours while on tour and that Glastonbury organizers initially only gave him 75 minutes of his time, but he was able to extend this to 90 minutes.